Vancouver
Taser death: The Canadian government last week ordered an investigation into the use of stun guns, following the death of a newly arrived Polish immigrant who had been Tasered by police at the Vancouver airport. A video recording of the incident shows a distraught Robert Dziekanski, 40, being restrained by four police officers, one of whom struck him with the Taser. Dziekanski collapsed immediately and was pronounced dead at the scene. No charges were filed in the incident, but it was referred to an independent commission that investigates complaints against the police. Since 2003, 18 people have died after being Tasered by Canadian police.
Los Angeles
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Talking Hollywood: For the first time since Hollywood writers went on strike Nov. 5, writers and studios agreed this week to resume negotiations. The announcement of the talks, scheduled for Nov. 26, sparked speculation of a relatively quick end to the walkout, which has shut down production of prime-time TV series and knocked talk shows off the air. The union, which is demanding a cut of the revenue from digital sales of programming, says the studios are starting to feel the pain of lost advertising revenue. But some writers are worried that a prolonged strike would devastate them financially and lead to more programming, such as reality shows, that doesn’t require writers. “We are your partners, and together, we’ll conquer the Internet,” said union negotiator John Bowman, in remarks aimed at studio chiefs. “Pay us and we’ll shut up and go back to work.”
Minneapolis
Embattled U.S. attorney out: Minnesota U.S. Attorney Rachel Paulose, whose tenure was marked by staff rebellions and accusations of political meddling, stepped down this week. In April, three senior lawyers in the office quit their posts to protest what they called Paulose’s mismanagement. Another employee said Paulose had punished him for reporting to superiors that she had left classified documents on her desk in plain sight. Paulose, at 34 the youngest chief federal prosecutor in the nation, was part of a wave of Bush administration insiders dispatched to run U.S. attorney offices. She is moving to a job at the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Policy in Washington, where she worked before getting the U.S. attorney post.
McLean, Va.
Terror case jeopardized: A federal judge this week threatened to order a new trial in a terrorism case against a Muslim cleric, after prosecutors admitted they had mischaracterized evidence against convicted 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui. Judge Leonie Brinkema said she might order a new trial for Ali al-Timimi, convicted in 2004 of soliciting treason, because she no longer trusted the government’s claims. She was referring to prosecutors’ recent admission that they had stated that there were no videotapes or audiotapes of Moussaoui’s interrogations, when in fact there were. Al-Timimi’s conviction was, like Moussaoui’s, based in part on classified evidence, and the judge says she now wants to see that evidence.
Pittsburgh
Pentagon duns soldier: The Pentagon is demanding that a soldier wounded in Iraq return part of his recruitment bonus, CBS News reported this week. Jordan Fox, 23, was blinded in his right eye and suffered back injuries when the truck he was traveling in was hit by a roadside bomb. His injuries prevented him from serving the remaining three months of his tour. The Pentagon has now notified him that he must repay almost $3,000 of the $10,000 bonus he was awarded for enlisting, since he did not serve out his commitment. Fox said he has no regrets about enlisting. “I’d do it all over again,” he said. Fox’s congressional representative, Pennsylvania Democrat Jason Altmire, has introduced a bill guaranteeing soldiers full bonuses in the case of injury.
Lima, Peru
Naming names: Human-rights groups this week protested Peruvian President Alan Garcia’s decision to release the names of almost 2,000 people once imprisoned on terrorism charges. Many of those on the list were accused of belonging to the Shining Path rebel group but later acquitted. Garcia claimed the move was made in the interest of public safety, “so people would know who their neighbors are.” But rights activists accused the government of demonizing people who either were innocent or had paid their debt to society. Shining Path, once a significant leftist guerilla group, has been largely eliminated. It has reportedly shifted its focus from Maoist revolution to drug trafficking.
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