Washington – World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz has hired a prominent lawyer as he fights to keep his job, in jeopardy after he arranged a generous compensation package for a bank employee with whom he has been romantically linked.
“I want to be sure that he receives appropriate treatment and fair treatment,” Robert Bennett, a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, said Monday.
Bennett, a former federal prosecutor, said he was retained Saturday, one day after the World Bank’s board ordered a special panel to look into whether, among other things, Wolfowitz properly handled the promotion of Shaha Riza to a high-paying job at the State Department in 2005.
Wolfowitz, who has said he made a mistake and has apologized, said he got involved in Riza’s job transfer shortly after he took the helm with the hope of avoiding a conflict of interest.
The bank’s staff association, former bank executives, some Democratic politicians and aid groups want Wolfowitz to resign.
Bennett’s previous clients include former President Clinton in the Paula Jones case, two former secretaries of defense, Clark Clifford and Caspar Weinberger, and, more recently, former New York Times reporter Judith Miller in the CIA leak investigation.
UNITED STATES
Review questions fatal-injection method
The drugs used to execute prisoners in the U.S. sometimes fail to work as planned, causing slow and painful deaths that probably violate constitutional bans on cruel and unusual punishment, a medical review of dozens of executions concludes.
Even when administered properly, the three-drug lethal injection method appears to have caused some inmates to suffocate while they were conscious and unable to move, instead of having their hearts stopped while they were sedated, scientists said in a report published Monday by the online journal PLoS Medicine.
The study concluded that the typical “one-size-fits-all” doses of anesthetic do not take into account an inmate’s weight and other key factors. The journal’s editors call for abolishing the death penalty, writing: “There is no humane way of forcibly killing someone.”
Lethal injection has been adopted by 37 states as a cheaper and more humane alternative to electrocution, gas chambers and other execution methods.
But 11 states have suspended its use after opponents alleged it is ineffective and cruel.
MADISON, Wis.
National cemeteries allow Wiccan symbol
The Wiccan pentacle has been added to the list of emblems allowed in national cemeteries and on government-issued headstones of soldiers, according to a settlement announced Monday.
A settlement between the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Wiccans adds the five-pointed star to the “emblems of belief” allowed on VA grave markers.
Eleven families nationwide are waiting for such grave markers, said Selena Fox, a Wiccan high priestess with Circle Sanctuary in Barneveld, Wis., a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
Wicca is a religion based on respect for Earth, nature and the cycle of the seasons.
ALBANY, N.Y.
Governor to propose allowing gay marriage
Despite the slim chance of its passage, New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer plans to introduce a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in the state.
He said Monday that he will submit a program bill that would authorize such unions.
“I do not think there is a realistic shot that it gets passed, but I will submit it because it is a statement of principle that I believe in and I want to begin that dynamic,” said the Democrat.
UNITED NATIONS
New U.S. ambassador has different style
Zalmay Khalilzad started his new job Monday as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Khalilzad was confirmed by the Senate on March 29 by unanimous voice vote to replace John Bolton, who resigned in December, weeks before his recess appointment was to expire. Bolton was admired for trying to promote U.S. foreign policy and for being a skilled negotiator – but not for his often aggressive and abrasive style.
The Afghanistan-born Khalilzad has a reputation as a gregarious, glad-handing diplomat. He is a favorite at the White House and a confidant of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Khalilzad, who speaks several languages, served as the U.S. ambassador to Iraq from June 2005 until last month and as U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005.
ABUJA, Nigeria
Ruling-party hopeful wins disputed vote
Nigeria’s ruling party candidate, Umaru Yar’Adua, won Saturday’s presidential vote by a 4- to-1 ratio over his nearest rival, the election commission said, amid growing complaints by monitors that the polls were flawed.
Yar’Adua won more than 24.6 million votes, defeating former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari, who gained 6.6 million votes, and Vice President Atiku Abubakar with 2.6 million, the Independent National Electoral Commission announced.
Criticism by election observers overshadowed the bid by Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and top oil producer, to transfer power from one civilian government to another for the first time in its 47-year history. The main Nigerian observer body, the Transitional Monitoring Group, called for a new vote.
TEHRAN
Iranian president seeks talks with Bush
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proposed on Monday holding talks with President Bush – a surprise suggestion from the hard-line leader whose country is at odds with Washington over its disputed nuclear program and involvement in Iraq, Iran’s state-run Arabic satellite TV channel reported.
“Last year, I announced readiness for a televised debate over global issues with his excellency Mr. Bush. And now we announce that I am ready to negotiate with him about bilateral issues as well as regional and international issues,” Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.
