MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2013
I N T E R N AT I O N A L
Mexico clinic under fire after woman gives birth alone OAXACA: Mexico’s ombudsman opened an investigation Saturday after an indigenous woman gave birth alone in the garden of a public clinic, sparking a social media storm. A witness’s picture, published on social media and newspapers, shows 28year-old Irma Lopez, kneeling and crying with the boy on the lawn still attached to the umbilical cord outside the health center in the southern state of Oaxaca. The incident caused outrage, with
Mexicans taking to Twitter to denounce it as new examples of the poor quality of health care in impoverished parts of the country and the discrimination indigenous groups face. The office of Raul Plascencia, head of the National Human Rights Commission, said in a statement that an investigation was opened into the alleged abuse of the ethnic mazateca woman who gave birth in a garden “because she was denied medical attention.”
The Oaxaca state human rights office also launched a probe over the October 2 incident at the health center in San Felipe Jalapa de Diaz, a town of 6,000 people. “We have repeatedly detected anomalies in the health sector in Oaxaca, and mainly offenses against indigenous women or women who live in marginalized areas of the state,” Oaxaca State Human Rights Commission president Arturo Pemibert told AFP. The director of the health center,
Adrian Cruz, told reporters the incident took place “due to the lack of medical personnel, because the doctor on morning duty arrives at 8:00 am and the woman arrived at the clinic at 7:30.” Cruz said the woman asked to be examined but since the doctor had not arrived, the nurse told her to wait. “But she was embarrassed that they saw that she was feeling discomfort and she left the waiting room. I think that labor began at that moment, which is why she
gave birth outside the clinic,” Cruz said. San Felipe Jalapa de Diaz Mayor Silvia Flores said it was the second such case this year after another woman gave birth to a girl in the clinic’s garden in July “because there was no personnel on duty.” In both cases, the babies were declared in good health. The majority of Mexico’s 14 million indigenous peoplesout of a national population of 118 million-live in Oaxaca.—AFP
Supreme Court term begins with contentious topics Opportunity exists for dramatic precedent-busting decisions
ACAPULCO: Employees of a hotel remain outside the building following a series of tremors in Acapulco, Guerrero state, Mexico yesteday. — AFP
Quakes hit southern Mexico, no injuries ACAPULCO: A pair of moderately strong earthquakes yesterday shook Acapulco and much of the Guerrero state coast that was recently hard-hit by deadly rain-induced landslides, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. The country’s seismic institute issued a preliminary magnitude of 4.96 after the latest yesterday morning temblor, which hit at 10:57 a.m. (11:57 ET) and was centered about 44 kilometers (27 miles) south of the Guerrero state community of Atoyac de Alvarez. There were no immediate reports of injury or damage, but the seismic alarm went off in Mexico City and authorities warned people to stay away from elevators and windows. The temblor followed a moderate 5.21-magnitude earthquake that rocked parts of southern Mexico earlier in the morning. Mexico’s National Seismology Institute said the first temblor struck at 9:27 am (10:27 ET) and was centered about 5 kilometers (less than 3 miles) south of Coyuca
de Benitez in the southern state of Guerrero. Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera also reported both quakes on his official Twitter account. The quakes were centered along the stretch of Guerrero state coast and inland mountains that were hardest hit last month by Tropical Storm Manuel. The second quake, which was felt in Mexico City, had its epicenter near the most significant population center closest to the hamlet of La Pintada, where dozens died when a massive mudslide hit the center of town on Sept. 16. Constantino Gonzalez Vargas, the state secretary of civil protection, said authorities were trying to get information about 117 communities in rural Guerrero where inspections had found that the passage of Tropical Storm Manuel last month left surrounding slopes at high risk of landslides. Many of the communities remain without reliable communication or road links to the rest of the state. — AP
South Louisiana eyes tropical depression NEW ORLEANS: The former Tropical Storm Karen, since downgraded to a depression, hovered early yesterday near Louisiana’s extreme southeast coastline and threatened to lash vulnerable low-lying areas with heavy rain. But all tropical storm warnings were discontinued earlier in the weekend after the system had been downgraded from a weak tropical storm while lumbering off the Gulf Coast. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said late Saturday that the storm was expected to move near or over parts of extreme southeastern Louisiana on Sunday and then run just south of the central Gulf Coast from Alabama to the Florida Panhandle in coming hours. Forecasters and emergency officials warned residents to keep an eye on developments in case things changed. Ahead of the storm, squalls of rain hit workers sandbagging low sections of the flood-prone town of Lafitte, La., along Bayou Barataria. Lafitte resident April Terrebonne decided to stay at her house, but took precautions. “We’ve been preparing for the water, if it does come up. We’ve moved everything, and we’re just getting prepared,” she said. The storm system had maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kph) after being downgraded earlier in the weekend from a tropical storm. It was about 185 miles (295 kms) west-southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River late Saturday. The National Weather Service said storm surges and localized flooding were possible along parts of the northern Gulf Coast. It added rainfall accumulations of up to 3 inches were possible on the central Gulf Coast and in some Southeastern states through Monday evening near or in the storm’s path.
In low-lying Plaquemines Parish, La., officials changed an evacuation order from mandatory to voluntary Saturday afternoon. More than 80 evacuees from the area, at the state’s southeastern tip, had taken refuge at a public shelter, which would remain open Saturday. They gathered in an auditorium where they rested on cots, watched for weather updates on TV and chatted outside on the front steps. “I don’t really know what to expect, but they told us to evacuate, so we got out,” said Dana Etienne, 27, of Phoenix, La., who was at the shelter with her three young children. Coastal authorities closed flood gates along waterways that could be affected by tides driven by the storm. In New Orleans, the US Army Corps of Engineers continued closing barriers designed to keep surge out of the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal scene of catastrophic flooding in 2005 when flood walls failed during Hurricane Katrina. Col. Richard Hansen of the corps said more gates along various canals could be closed, and warned boaters not to get caught on the wrong side of those gates “If there is a gate in the system, it may not be open when you decide to come back in,” Hansen said. At the Port of New Orleans, port officials working with the Coast Guard said they were optimistic that vessel traffic at the mouth of the Mississippi River, halted since Friday morning, would resume Sunday. The port remained busy, officials said in a news release, with some of the nine ships at dock there still working cargo. Two Carnival cruise ships that had to delay weekend arrivals were expected Monday.—AP
WASHINGTON: The Supreme Court is beginning a new term with controversial topics that offer the court’s conservative majority the chance to move aggressively to undo limits on campaign contributions, undermine claims of discrimination in housing and mortgage lending, and allow for more governmentsanctioned prayer. Assuming the government shutdown doesn’t get in their way, the justices also will deal with a case that goes to the heart of the partisan impasse in Washington: Whether and when the president may use recess appointments to fill key positions without Senate confirmation. The court was unaffected for the first few days of the government shutdown and there was no expectation that arguments set for October would have to be rescheduled. The new term that starts today may be short on the sort of high-profile battles over health care and gay marriage that marked the past two years. But several cases ask the court to overrule prior decisions - bold action in an institution that relies on the power of precedent. “There are an unusual number of cases going right to hot-button cultural issues and aggressive briefing on the conservative side asking precedents to be overruled,” said Georgetown University law professor Pamela Harris, who served in President Barack Obama’s Justice Department. Paul Clement, a frequent advocate before the court and the top Supreme Court lawyer under President George W. Bush, agreed that the opportunity exists for dramatic precedent-busting decisions. But Clement said each case also offers the court “an off-ramp,” a narrower outcome that may be more in keeping with Chief Justice John Roberts’ stated desire for incremental decisionmaking that bridges the court’s ideological divide. There is a familiar ring to several cases the justices will take up. Campaign finance, affirmative action, legislative prayer and abortion clinic protests all are on the court’s calendar. The justices also will hear for the second time the case of Carol Anne Bond, a woman who was convicted under an anti-terrorism law for spreading deadly chemicals around the home of her husband’s mistress. The justices probably will decide in the fall whether to resolve competing lower court decisions about the new health care law ’s requirement that employer-sponsored health plans include coverage of contraceptives. An issue with a good chance to be heard involves the authority of police to search the contents of a cellphone found on someone they arrest. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said over the summer that the right to privacy in the digital age “is bound to come up in many forms” in the years ahead. The court may hear its first abortion case since 2007, a
WASHINGTON: In this June 27, 2012, file photo law enforcement officers set up a perimeter controls in front of the US Supreme Court on the eve of the expected ruling on whether or not the Affordable Care Act passes the test of constitutionality in Washington. The Supreme Court new term, which starts today, may be short on the sort of high-profile battles over health care and gay marriage that marked the past two years. — AP
review of an Oklahoma law that would restrict the use of certain abortion-inducing drugs such as RU-486. The campaign finance argument on Tuesday is the first major case on the calendar. The 5-4 decision in the Citizens United case in 2010 allowed corporations and labor unions to spend unlimited sums in support of or opposition to candidates, as long as the spending is independent of the candidates. The new case, McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, is a challenge to the overall limits on what an individual may give to candidates, political parties and political action committees in a two-year federal election cycle, currently $48,600 to candidates and $123,600 in total. The $2,600 limit on contributions to a candidate is not at issue. Since the Buckley v. Valeo decision in 1976, the court has looked more favorably on contribution limits than on spending restrictions because of the potential for corruption in large contributions. The big issue in the current case is whether the justices will be just as skeptical of limits on contributing as on spending. Three justices, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, have signaled their willingness to do so. It remains to be seen whether Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, the other two members of the Citizens United majority, are willing to go along. Among other top cases already set for review: Greece, N.Y., a suburb of Rochester, is asking the court to uphold its practice of opening town council meetings with a prayer, despite an appeals court ruling that found the invocations a violation of the First Amendment because they almost always were Christian prayers. The court could use the case to rule that courts should take a more hands-off approach
to religion in the public square or it could hold more narrowly that the town’s practice is consistent with a 1983 decision upholding prayer at the start of government meetings. Mount Holly, N.J., is defending a plan to demolish and redevelop a rundown neighborhood against claims that it discriminates because it disproportionately affects African-American and Latino residents. At issue is whether there also must be an intent to discriminate under federal housing law. The issue affects a range of transactions involving real estate and applies to banks and mortgage companies as well as governments, such as the one involved in this case. Michigan is fighting to preserve a constitutional amendment that bans the use of racial preferences in education after a federal appeals court ruled that the constitutional ban is itself discriminatory. This case, unlike last term’s look at a University of Texas admissions plan, does not involve the viability of affirmative action, but rather whether opponents of racial preferences can enshrine that ban in the state constitution. Massachusetts is defending a law that creates a 35-foot buffer zone at abortion clinics to limit protesters’ ability to interact with patients. The court upheld a buffer zone law in Colorado in 2000, but Roberts and Alito have replaced members of that majority and are considered more sympathetic to the free -speech claims of the protesters. While several cases call into question high court precedents, the justices will be writing on a blank slate when they take up the president’s recess appointment power under the Constitution. In that case, the court will confront an appeals court ruling that effectively would end the presi-
dent’s ability to make such appointments, if it is left standing. Former Justice Department official Peter Keisler said that justices often ask a lawyer for the best case in support of his argument. “No one is going to ask that question because ‘t’aint none.’ No Supreme Court decisions are material here,” said Keisler, a partner at the Sidley, Austin law firm in Washington. The impasse that led Obama to install members of the National Labor Relations Board and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Richard Cordray in office without Senate confirmation has been resolved. So what remains of the issue is whether Obama and his successors will be constrained in the future. The topic splits Democrats and Republicans, but their view of the matter is almost entirely dependent on which party controls the White House. In another area, little drama is expected. Four justices are over the age of 75, but none is expected to retire in the coming year. Ginsburg, at 80, is the oldest member of the court. Scalia and Kennedy are 77, and Justice Stephen Breyer is 75. Ginsburg made clear in a series of media interviews this summer that she will stay on the court as long as she is able to do the work. Before the summer, Ginsburg had said she wanted to emulate Justice Louis Brandeis and stay on the bench as long as he did, 22 years. She will reach that mark in 2015, which also coincides with what is widely believed to be Obama’s last opportunity to name her replacement because the presidential election year of 2016 is an unlikely time to fill a high court vacancy, especially in the eighth and final year of a presidency. — AP
Mexico monster truck wreck kills eight
RIO DE JANEIRO: Special Police Operations Battalion (BOPE) policemen get out of an armored vehicle, during peace operations at Lins favela (shantytown) in Rio de Janeiro, yesterday. About 1,000 forces —including militarymen, federal policemen and civilians — were deployed for the operation. — AFP
CHIHUAHUA: An out-of-control monster truck shot into a crowd of spectators at a Mexican air show, killing at least eight people and hurting 80 others, dozens seriously, officials said. Carlos Gonzalez, spokesman for the Chihuahua state prosecutors’ office, said the driver appeared to have lost control of the truck after leaping over a pile of cars it was crushing during a demonstration at the “Ex treme Aeroshow” on Saturday. Some witnesses said the driver appeared to have hit his head on the interior of the truck as he drove over the old cars, with at least two reporting seeing his helmet come off before the massive vehicle drove into the crowd of terrified spectators, who tried to flee. “I fell over, and when I turned around I saw
the tire very close. It hit me and threw me to the other side,” Jesus Manuel Ibarra, 41, said as he was treated for injuries to his arm and hip. Gonzalez said the accident killed at least one child and hur t 80 people, 46 of whom remained hospitalized early Sunday. He said the number of dead and injured could rise as officials received updated information Sunday morning. The local health system listed the names of 67 injured people on its Facebook page, calling urgently for blood donations and help from local doctors and nurses. Gonzalez said prosecutors were looking into the possibility of a mechanical failure that left the driver unable to release the gas pedal. Several witnesses said, however, that the driver appeared to have become incapacitated when
he struck his head during the show, in which the truck drives at high speed over smaller cars, leaping into the air as it crushes their roofs. Spectator Daniel Dominguez, 18, said he was happily watching the show with a group of relatives when the truck came down hard in the middle of the cars.”The driver hit his head and his helmet flew off,” Dominguez said. “The truck came directly at where we were.” His 11-year-old sister was in surgery for injuries to her legs, and his mother was treated for minor contusions. The air show was canceled after the accident that happened during the second day of the three-day show in a park on the outskirts of Chihuahua, the capital of Chihuahua state. —AP