Yale to sell stock in oil firm that does business in Sudan
New Haven, Conn. – Yale University is selling off its stock in an oil company linked to the African nation of Sudan because the country has been accused of genocide.
“The time-honored principles that Yale observes as an ethical institutional investor have guided us to take this strong action,” Yale president Richard Levin said Wednesday in announcing the move.
He said he did not know the value of the stock, calling it “a small piece of a large fund.” The United States and international humanitarian groups have accused the Sudanese government of using its oil wealth to wage genocide against the people in the western Darfur region.
Levin said the university had stock in one of seven oil companies that it determined were providing “the lion’s share of the revenue to the Sudanese government.” Yale doesn’t name its individual stock holdings.
Levin said the university would not invest in any of the seven, which he identified as: Bentini SPA, an Italian construction company that builds pumping stations; Higleig Petroleum Services and Investment Co. Ltd., a Sudanese company; Hi-Tech Petroleum, a Sudanese company; Nam Fatt Corp., a Malaysian construction firm that builds pumping stations; Oil and Natural Gas Corp., of India; PetroChina Co. Ltd.; and the China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec.
DES MOINES, Iowa
Powerball jackpot largest in U.S. history
Another record lottery jackpot is up for grabs.
With no winner Wednesday, the multistate Powerball jackpot jumped to at least $365 million for Saturday’s drawing, the largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history. Tickets are available at any Colorado Lottery dealer for $1.
MONETT, Mo.
Fire department lets man’s garage burn
Rural firefighters stood by and watched a fire destroy a garage and a vehicle because the property owner had not paid membership dues.
Bibaldo Rueda – who was injured battling the flames Monday – offered to pay the dues as the fire blazed away, but the Monett Rural Fire Department does not have a policy for on-the-spot billing, sheriff’s Detective Robert Evenson said.
Fire Chief Ronnie Myers defended the no-pay, no-aid policy, saying the membership- based organization could not survive if people thought the department would respond for free.
WASHINGTON
Post office to reissue Ronald Reagan stamp
The Postal Service said Thursday it plans to reissue the Ronald Reagan stamp.
The new stamp will carry the 39-cent postage rate that took effect Jan. 8, but will have the same image as the Reagan commemorative stamp released in 2005.
A release date for the new version was not announced.
ALBANY, N.Y.
Doctors take out governor’s appendix
Surgeons removed Gov. George Pataki’s appendix Thursday morning after the governor checked himself into a hospital complaining of abdominal pain.
The governor should be able to resume all his normal activities in a week to 10 days, said the senior attending surgeon. He probably will be discharged Saturday.
The 60-year-old Republican is contemplating a run for president in 2008 and announced in July that he wouldn’t seek a fourth term as governor.
LEYTE, Philippines
Mountain slide kills 200; 1,500 missing
A landslide rumbled down a mountainside on eastern Leyte island today, burying hundreds of houses and a school packed with elementary students. Red Cross officials estimated 200 dead and 1,500 missing.
“It sounded like the mountain exploded, and the whole thing crumbled,” survivor Dario Libatan told Manila radio DZMM. “I could not see any house standing anymore.”
Sen. Richard Gordon, head of the Philippine Red Cross, said an entire village appeared to have been buried, with perhaps 200 dead and 1,500 missing.
“There is no body count yet, it’s our estimate,” he told The Associated Press by telephone from Geneva. “We’re mobilizing rescue operations. This area is infamous for landslides.”
BEIJING
Newspaper to return with new editors
A Chinese newspaper supplement known for hard-hitting coverage of sensitive issues will resume publishing more than a month after being shut down, but its two top editors were fired, one of the editors said Thursday.
The closure of Bing Dian, “Freezing Point” in English, a four-page weekly supplement of the China Youth Daily, was seen as part of the communist government’s efforts to tighten control over the media.
Editor-in-chief Li Datong met with newspaper officials Thursday and said afterward he and deputy editor Lu Yuegang had been removed from their posts and transferred to the News Research Institute, another department of the China Youth Daily.
MEXICO CITY
Office created for crimes against women
Mexico’s federal attorney general’s office on Thursday created a new special prosecutor for crimes against women.
The new post will replace a special prosecutor’s position created in 2004 to investigate a string of killings in the border city of Juarez.
