south africa

world
growing rumours that this
is the case. The rumours
were sparked by the company's
hiring Jones Day, a
law firm which specialises in
handling bankruptcy cases.
It also comes on the back
of shares in the company
plummeting last week following
the revelation that
Kodak planned to borrow
£103 million for "general corporate
purposes". Kodak has
explained away its trip to the
lawyers by saying that it was
"not unusual for a company
in transformation to explore
all options".
bANGlAdesH
A tribunal investigating the
1971 independence struggle
between Bangladesh and
Pakistan has charged its first
suspect. Delawar Hossain
Sayedee, a senior leader of
Bangladesh's largest Islamic
party, is accused of mass
murder and torture – claims
he denies. In total he will
face 20 charges when the
case opens in full in late
October. The total death toll
from the struggle between
Pakistan and Bangladesh
is estimated at three million
over nine months, with
thousands of women raped.
Sayedee is accused of collaborating
with Pakistani forces
to commit atrocities.
UK
Good news for the UK econ-
omy on Monday as Standard
& Poor's confirmed the UK's
AAA credit rating. The credit
ratings agency justified the
decision on the basis of the
UK's "diversified economy"
and "flexible fiscal policy".
It's reason for the UK to gloat
after the USA was downgraded
to AA+ in August. Last week
New Zealand also received the
chop, falling from AA+ to AA.
The UK has also just heard
that its manufacturing sector
has returned to growth for the
first time in three months.
bUlGAriA
Bulgarian nationalists
marched through the capital
Sofia in protest against the
country's Roma population
– the end of a week of nationwide
protests. They carried
banners saying things like
"Gypsy criminality is a danger
to the state" and "I don't want
to live in a Gypsy state". Roma
make up 9% of Bulgaria's population
and suffer high levels
of poverty and unemployment.
The current tensions
were sparked by the death of
a youth hit by a van driven by
relatives of "King Kiro", who is
a prominent Roma clan boss.
In Bucharest and Paris, rallies
were held as part of "Roma
pride" this weekend.
UsA
Former US Vice President
Dick Cheney, together with
his daughter Liz, has called
briefs
on President Barack Obama to
issue an apology to the Bush
administration. In an appearance
on CNN's “State of
the Union” show on Sunday,
Cheney said Obama should
retract his criticism of the Bush
administration's tactics in the
war on terrorism. He was referring
to the speech Obama
delivered in 2009 where he said
that the fallout from 9/11 was
that it caused America to "act
contrary to our ideals" (in particular
reference to the use of
torture at Guantanamo Bay).
Liz Cheney went so far as to say
that "he slandered the nation"
and "he owes an apology to the
American people".
iTAlY
A verdict is expected in the
Amanda Knox case on Monday
evening. On the emotional
last day of the trial, Knox and
her co-accused Raffaele Sollecito
both gave heartfelt closing
statements. Knox cried as she
began hers, before composing
herself and saying "I did not
do the things they say I did. I
did not kill, rape or steal. I was
not there". Hopes were high
among her supporters that
Knox would be freed, in which
case she could leave within
two hours. Three other options
were on the table, however:
her original jail term (26 years)
could be upheld; it could be
reduced without her being acquitted,
or it could be extended
to a life sentence, as prosecutors
have requested.
tuesday - 4 october 2011