NYMHM: Big year for (Democratic) drug deals; Who resurrected the electric car?

Wed Jun 25 14:29:09 PDT 2008

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   NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED * June 25, 2008 * Vol. 7, No. 25

   Important but overlooked news from around the world.
   NYMHM is a free service of Newsdesk.org.

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QUOTED:

     "We don't look at it through the prism of Democrats and
     Republicans. We look at it in terms of those who support
     free market policies and those who don't."

     -- A pharmaceutical industry spokesman on record-breaking
     lobbying expenses aimed at Congressional Democrats
     (see "Top Stories," below).

CONTENTS:

     *Top Stories*
       Big year for (Democratic) drug deals
       U.K. jouralist gets some source protection
       Australia's billion-dollar land grab

     *Transportation*
       Who resurrected the electric car?

     *Refugees*
       Somali refugees: Out of the frying pan, into the fire

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  TOP STORIES
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  * Big Year for (Democratic) Drug Deals

    The pharmaceutical industry spent $168 million lobbying Congress
    in 2007 -- a record sum that helped influence legislation and
    prevented new restrictions on drug advertisements, the Center for
    Public Integrity reports.

    Industry spending on lobbying has tripled since 1998, adding up
    to more than a $1 billion total in that time.

    CIR reports that 90 percent of the spending was by 40 companies
    and three industry groups, including ...

    GET THE WHOLE STORY:

    http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/005575.html

  * U.K. Journalist Gets Some Source Protection

    A freelance journalist in Manchester, England, may reveal some,
    but not necessarily all, of his source material on a book about
    al-Qaida terrorists to police, a panel of judges said today.

    The panel ruled the police order for Shiv Malik to hand over
    all materials, including an interview with a suspected British
    operative, was too ...

    GET THE WHOLE STORY:

    http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/005577.html

  * Australia's Billion-Dollar Land Grab

    Never mind the aboriginal land battles that followed the
    colonial era -- turf wars in today's Australia are for
    billionaires.

    The richest man Down Under, Andrew Forrest, is squaring off
    against the nation's wealthiest woman, Gina Rinehart, in an
    epic conflict over access to the iron-rich Rhodes Ridge territory
    in Western Australia, Bloomberg News reports.

    Forrest's Perth-based Fortalescu Metals Group is claiming
    improper lease renewals by Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting,
    and according to The Australian may also be favored by a "use it
    or lose it" policy that ...

    GET THE WHOLE STORY:

    http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/005578.html

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  TRANSPORTATION
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  * Who Resurrected the Electric Car?

    With gasoline prices climbing ever higher, private companies and
    government agencies are giving the electric car another look.

    Even Republican presidential hopeful John McCain is getting in
    on the act, telling supporters this week he would offer a $300
    million government prize to whoever invents a better battery
    for electric vehicles.

    More timely are plans by the city of Paris for a 4,000-car fleet
    of electric vehicles to drive a new ...

    GET THE WHOLE STORY:

    http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/005579.html

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  REFUGEES
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  * Somali Refugees: Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire

    Several new reports reveal that Somali and Ethiopian refugees,
    fleeing drought and violence at home, often face renewed danger
    crossing the ocean to Yemen and in South African refugee camps.

    According to the aid group Doctors Without Borders, 20,000 such
    refugees crowded into overloaded boats during the first five
    months of 2008.

    They endure beatings and abuse by smugglers, and at least 400 ...

    GET THE WHOLE STORY:

    http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/005580.html

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Editors: Will Crain, Josh Wilson
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