1 New York Times on a Catholic Bishop in the US being indicted for the first time in 25 years, for failing to report abuse. The indictment of the bishop, Robert W. Finn, and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph by a county grand jury was announced on Friday. Each was charged with one misdemeanor count involving a priest accused of taking pornographic photographs of girls as recently as this year. They pleaded not guilty. The case caused an uproar among Catholics in Kansas City this year when Bishop Finn acknowledged that he knew of the photographs last December but did not turn them over to the police until May. During that time, the priest, the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, is said to have continued to attend church events with children, and took lewd photographs of another young girl. “This is huge for us,” said Michael Hunter, director of the Kansas City chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, and a victim of sexual abuse by a priest. “It’s something that I personally have been waiting for years to see, some real accountability. We’re very pleased with the prosecuting attorney here to have the guts to do it.” The bishop signalled he would fight the charges with all his strength.
2 Johannesburg Times on ‘Facebook rapist’ getting 50 years in prison. 'Facebook rapist' Thabo Bester was sentenced to 50 years imprisonment on Friday for raping and robbing two women. (His own story, if true, is equally tragic: He burst into tears in the Durban Magistrate's Court on Friday when he explained the circumstances which he said led him to commit his crimes. He said he had been raped by his grandmother's friend when he was young, raped several times by a man who promised to look after him, and that he was gang-raped in prison. Bester told the court the difficulties he encountered forced him to commit crime. "I know I have done terrible things. This is not truly who I am. I want the opportunity to put things right," he said.)
3 Straits Times report, 'Tiger mum' urges Asian parents to relax, give kids freedom. United States 'Tiger Mum' Amy Chua urged strict Asian parents to relax and give their children more freedom but also to avoid the 'romanticised' Western focus on creativity over hard work. The Chinese-American law professor at Yale University sparked international controversy this year with her book Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother, which detailed the strict parenting regime she put in place for her children and called this approach the key to success. “I think Western parents give kids too much freedom, too much choice at a young age... Asian parents like in Korea have opposite problems, giving too little freedom, too little choice for our kids,” Prof Chua said. She stressed that Asian parents often put too much focus on children's academic excellence while failing to foster social skills and 'emotional intelligence'.
4 Wall Street Journal wondering whether an MBA is worth it. Graduate business programs gained popularity during the recession as out-of-work bankers and consultants sought to bolster their résumés and others looked to change industries. But with the economy still fragile, some are wondering whether leaving the work force to pursue a full-time program is worth the risk. Applications for two-year, full-time MBA programs that started this fall fell an average of 9.9% from a year earlier, the third year in a row with a decline. Still, some people continue to believe an MBA is worth the investment. Not only do students get valuable training in managerial and technical skills, they say, but when the job market is bleak, having a network of classmates can make a difference in landing a coveted spot in finance, consulting or other industries.
5 Reserve Bank of India executive director VK Sharma writing in Business Line, ‘Meltdown fears are back’. It is not a not a question of if, but when, the asset bubble caused by increases in balance sheets of central banks will burst.
6 Financial Chronicle on Vijay Mallya – the Kind is struggling. His group of 60 firms is under pressure due to Rs 6,000 crore debt of the airlines.
7 Times of India story, ‘My symbol is diamond and I can’t give you one’, about election symbols in Tamil Nadu civic elections ranging from cot to conch, paint brush to pineapple, tree to toffee, and mirror to diamond.
8 The Hindu’s Telan ‘Gaana’ cartoon.
9 Business Standard on ‘Moving a village’ about how fields, houses and hills will all have to make way for the Navi Mumbai airport, and about the people’s resistance to it.
No comments:
Post a Comment