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Saab files for bankruptcy after Chinese deal fails
Court Watch |
2011/12/19 11:27
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Saab Automobile filed for bankruptcy on Monday, giving up a desperate struggle to stay in business after previous owner General Motors Co. blocked takeover attempts by Chinese investors.
Saab CEO Victor Muller personally handed in the bankruptcy application to a court in southwestern Sweden, ending his two-year effort to revive the carmaker that over more than six decades has become known for its rounded sedans and quirky design features.
The Dutch entrepreneur told reporters he had to pull the plug after GM, which still owns some technology licenses for Saab, rejected a last-ditch financing plan involving a Chinese company.
"That basically was the last nail in the coffin of this beautiful company," Muller said in webcast news conference at the Saab plant in Trollhattan, southwestern Sweden.
The Vanersborg District Court was expected to approve the application later Monday.
"This is the most unwelcome Christmas gift I could have imagined," said Fredrik Almqvist, 36, who has worked at Saab's assembly line for nearly 17 years.
While experts say the company is likely to be chopped up and sold in parts, local officials in the town of Trollhattan, where Saab employs more than 3,000 people, were holding out hope that a new buyer would emerge to salvage the brand.
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Wisconsin court accepts wind farm challenge
Court Watch |
2011/12/16 11:35
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The state Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether Wisconsin regulators properly approved a huge wind farm in southern Minnesota.
Regulators in Wisconsin and Minnesota gave Wisconsin Power & Light permission in 2009 to build the $450 million farm just north of Albert Lea.
Two Wisconsin groups representing energy consumers contend the Wisconsin Public Service Commission should have applied stiffer approval criteria to the project. The commission has countered that such standards don't apply to out-of-state facilities.
The 4th District Court of Appeals asked the Supreme Court to take the case directly. Online court records indicate the high court has accepted the case, with the first briefs due in mid-January. |
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Suspect's lawyer describes Minn. courthouse attack
Court Watch |
2011/12/16 09:36
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In the moments after authorities say a man just convicted in a criminal trial opened fire at a small northern Minnesota courthouse, it was his defense attorney who rushed to the aid of two shooting victims.
John Lillie III described a chaotic scene Thursday just minutes after his client, Daniel Schlienz, was convicted of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. Authorities have identified Schlienz, 42, as the man who shot the prosecutor who handled his case and another man.
In an interview with the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, Lillie said he was speaking to Schlienz's mother when he heard a shot ring out inside the Cook County courthouse.
Lillie said he followed a man's pleas for help and found Gregory Thompson, of Grand Marais, wounded. He dragged Thompson outside, then re-entered the courthouse to warn workers. Lillie said he heard two more shots on the second floor and ran up to find Tim Scannell, the county prosecutor, bleeding from three gunshot wounds. |
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Next ICC prosecutor warns against sex crimes
Court Watch |
2011/12/13 13:02
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The next chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court pledged Tuesday to strengthen efforts to bring to justice the perpetrators of sexual and gender crimes.
A day after her election by the 119 countries that support the tribunal, Gambian lawyer Fatou Bensouda said too often gender crimes go unreported and unpunished and the victims are trivialized, denigrated, threatened and silenced, which enables the abuses to continue unimpeded.
In its first cases, she said, the ICC has sent the message that this is no longer acceptable and must stop.
The International Criminal Court, which began operating in 2002, is the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal. It is a court of last resort, stepping in only when countries are unwilling or unable to prosecute alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
At the moment, the ICC is dealing with cases from Congo, the Central African Republic, Uganda involving the Lord's Resistance Army, the Darfur conflict in Sudan, the recent Libyan uprising, and post-election violence in Kenya and Ivory Coast.
At present, crimes such as rape, sexual slavery, and forced prostitution and pregnancy are alleged in some cases before the court in all of these situations except Libya, where an investigation of alleged gender-based crimes is still under way. |
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Appeals court allows Albany hospital merger
Court Watch |
2011/12/11 11:09
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A federal appeals court has ruled that Albany's Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital can buy Palmyra Medical Center.
The Albany Herald reports that the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court decision that said the sale was not subject to federal antitrust oversight.
The Federal Trade Commission had appealed the lower court ruling. The commission argued that Phoebe Putney and Hospital Corporation of America, Palmyra's parent company, were using the Hospital Authority of Albany-Dougherty County to conceal their actions from federal scrutiny.
Phoebe Putney CEO Joel Wernick said Friday he's eager to move forward with the consolidation of the two hospitals.
The FTC said in a statement Friday that it is concerned the deal will raise health care costs in Albany and said it is considering its options. |
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