Free Republic

'PAY Czar' Kenneth Feinberg's official government title is "special master for compensation." You'll be happy to know that he's really getting into the confiscatory spirit of his role. Asked by Reuters if his powers include reaching back and revoking bonuses awarded to financial-industry executives before his office was created this year, Feinberg asserted broad and binding authorities -- including the ability to "claw back" money already paid out. Regulations governing his office explicitly limit his jurisdiction over contracts signed before Feb. 11, 2009. But the fine print is no obstacle to President Obama's czars. "The statute provides these guideposts, but...

The NHS spent more than £800m settling legal claims last year as complaints of medical negligence against the service rose sharply. The surge in payouts is revealed in the NHS Litigation Authority's annual accounts which show that maternity services attract the highest legal costs. Clinical errors in delivering babies can result in lifelong damage and payments accordingly reflect the intensive medical care often needed for decades to come.

PARIS (AP) — Air France will give about euro17,500 ($24,000) as an advance to the families of the victims of the crash of Air France Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, the company's chief executive said Friday.Air France lawyers are contacting the families of the 228 victims from 32 countries to make sure the money gets to them, Phillipe Gourgeon said in an interview broadcast Friday on RTL radio. Air France also is looking into holding a memorial for all the victims of the May 31 crash, Gourgeon said.Some families of French victims have accused Air France of...

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration plans to appoint a "Special Master for Compensation" to ensure that companies receiving federal bailout funds are abiding by executive-pay guidelines, according to people familiar with the matter. The administration is expected to name Kenneth Feinberg, who oversaw the federal government's compensation fund for victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, to act as a pay czar for the Treasury Department, these people said. Mr. Feinberg's appointment could be announced as early as next week, when the administration is expected to release executive-compensation guidelines for firms receiving aid from the $700 billion Troubled Asset...

The family of a man who was stabbed to death by teenage thugs after he asked them to keep the noise down have been denied compensation - because he tried to fight off his killers. Kevin Johnson, 22, was brutally murdered by the gang who invited him to 'meet Mr Stanley' during a confrontation outside his home moments before plunging a blade into his chest, arm and back. The young father collapsed a few feet from his front door whilst the trio - aged 19, 16 and 17 - ran off in 'triumphant mood' before stabbing their second victim a...

your brains or your signature will be on this resignation letter. That's what Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner might as well be saying to the next corporate CEOs he intends to muscle out of their posts. Bloomberg reports Treasury's highest-ranking tax evader said he is gearing up to turn senior management and boards of directors at banks that require "exceptional" assistance from the U.S. government into roadkill. "If in the future, banks need exceptional assistance in order to get through this, then we will make sure that assistance comes," while ensuring taxpayers are protected, Geithner said today in an interview on...

A report urging reform of the public-pension benefits given to Colorado educators was skewered Wednesday by the chairman of the House Education Committee, himself a retired teacher. Rep. Michael Merrifield, D-Manitou Springs, drew applause from a standing-room only crowd when he closely questioned Michael Mannino, a University of Colorado professor who helped write the report. ...

What is the difference between Sadam Hussein, Saudi Arabia, and Iran providing financial compensation to the families of those who perpetrated terror against Israel, and International diplomats who pledge $3 billion in financial aid to Islamists in Gaza, to help them recover and rebuild from a counter-terror operation? The clear message from a counter-terror operation: terrorism will "cost you", big time. The clear message to Islamic terrorists from Inrernational diplomats: terrorism "pays", big time, to the tune $3 billion in aid. te

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Ping An seeks China govt help over Fortis losses BEIJING/BRUSSELS: Chinese insurer Ping An is asking the Chinese government to help seek compensation from Belgium over its losses following the state-led carve-up of financial group Fortis, a government source said yesterday. Ping An Insurance (Group) Co booked a loss of about 15.7 billion yuan (US$2.3 billion) on its investment in Fortis NV after marking down the market value of its 5 per cent stake in the Dutch-Belgian group. Shares in Fortis have fallen to less than 1 euro from almost 30 euros in April 2007, when it launched its ill-fated...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 3, 2008 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said  a new handbook is another step in improving the care and support wouynded, ill or injured troops and their families deserve.  The handbook compiles the myriad information they need in one succinct, easy-to-read publication. In his foreword to the Compensation and Benefits Handbook, Gates said its biggest benefit is that it “compiles into one source the relevant information that you and your family previously had to search through numerous sources to find.” The handbook was created to help servicemembers and the family members helping to care for them...

Six asylum seekers are claiming up to £300,000 in compensation after they were held in detention following their entry into the UK, it was confirmed today. Lawyers for the six said the claim had been lodged for up to £50,000 each on grounds of false imprisonment. The asylum seekers arrived in the UK unaccompanied, saying they were under 18, but did not have documents to prove it, according to reports. At least three were detained with adults for up to two weeks at an immigration centre while their ages were checked. Mark Scott, of solicitors Bhatt Murphy, said the claimants...

Non-compete clauses for tollways would be a non-starter under a policy the Texas Transportation Commission will consider Thursday. Such language in toll road contracts, which generally prohibit a toll road owner (such as the Texas Department of Transportation) from building or expanding a nearby free road, or require compensation for doing so, have been controversial in Texas and elsewhere. TxDOT’s contract with Cintra-Zachry, a Spanish and American consortium that will build and operate a southern section of Texas 130, requires TxDOT to pay up if it makes certain highway improvements within 10 miles of the road. The commission Thursday will...

Air Canada will have to wait at least two years longer than originally expected to take delivery of its first 787 Dreamliner, the airline revealed on Thursday. The Boeing Co. has told Air Canada that it will deliver the first of the 37 aircraft it has on order at least 24 to 30 months later than the carrier had previously expected, at the earliest in January 2012. Air Canada will be seeking compensation from Boeing for the delays, Montie Brewer, Air Canada chief executive, told a conference call on Thursday. In April, Boeing announced that the first deliveries of the...

WELLINGTON/TOKYO (Reuters) - Airlines lined up on Thursday for compensation after Boeing Co announced a further six-month delay for its new 787 Dreamliner plane, with Air New Zealand, Air India and Japan's two big carriers eyeing redress. The U.S. plane maker announced the third major delay for the revolutionary plane on Wednesday, promising first delivery in the third quarter of 2009, more than a year after the original target of May this year -- with an indefinite delay for a short-range model favoured by the Japanese carriers. Air New Zealand and Air India AI.UL said they would seek compensation. All...

In 2006, former premier Lucien Bouchard and several business leaders blamed the not-in-my-backyard syndrome - NIMBY - for much of the Montreal metropolitan area's "immobilisme." The criticism followed the cancellation of two projects that had stirred public protests - a casino near Pointe St. Charles and the Suroît power plant. Despite the scolding, citizens remain unrepentant and as pesky as ever. Protests against noisy aircraft over the West Island, for example, are giving headaches to airport officials trying to accommodate increasing numbers of flights. Protests on the North Shore are also causing problems for the expansion of a smelly regional...

Years after state agriculture workers cut down thousands of orange and grapefruit trees to eradicate citrus canker, Broward County homeowners Thursday won a crucial victory in their fight for compensation. Broward Circuit Judge Ronald Rothschild ruled that the destruction of about 130,000 residential citrus trees constituted a "taking" under the state constitution and therefore required the Florida Department of Agriculture to compensate homeowners for their lost property. The ruling came in a class-action suit filed on behalf of about 70,000 Broward homeowners whose uninfected trees were destroyed because they stood within 1,900 feet of infected trees. In his 54-page order,...

The canton grants the equivalent of two years’ pay to a Meyrin junior high school instructor fired for writing an article in support of stoning. A Geneva teacher fired for controversial comments he made in an article for a French newspaper will receive SFr255,000 in damages from the canton of Geneva. The canton announced yesterday it is paying the amount to Hani Ramadan, a French teacher from a junior high school (cycle d’orientation) in Meyrin. The sum is the equivalent of two years’ salary for the teacher who was sacked in November 2004 after defending the stoning of men and...

Aborigine communities have comparatively low life expectancies Thousands of Aborigines who were removed from their families as children will receive no compensation, the Australian government has said.Campaigners for the so-called Stolen Generations had asked for a reparation fund of almost A$1bn ($870m; £443m) as part of a promised official apology. But indigenous affairs minister Jenny Macklin says money will instead be put into health and education schemes. Many Aboriginal children were handed to white families from 1915 to 1969. They were brought up by white people in an attempt by the government to assimilate the white and Aboriginal populations....

LUBBOCK, Texas — One Central Texas farmer said Monday he was "dumbfounded" by Gov. Rick Perry's veto of an eminent domain bill designed to protect landowners when the state wants to take their property. Robert Fleming is not alone in an area worried about the massive Trans Texas Corridor proposal. The planned route cuts through Fleming's Bell County farms. He's bewildered by Perry's veto. "We were so close to getting something done," Fleming said. "We've worked hard trying to get private property rights." Perry vetoed the bill, and 48 others, Friday. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Kelo...