The ink from President Obama's signature was barely dry when attorneys general from 14 states filed papers in federal court today challenging the constitutionality of the newly-signed health care bill. "We are convinced that this legislation is fundamentally flawed as a matter of constitutional law, that it exceeds the scope of proper constitutional authority of the federal government and tramples upon the rights and prerogatives of states and their citizens," David Rivkin, Jr., an attorney representing 13 of the states, told ABC News. The challenges to the legislation are focused on the mandate that requires an individual to buy health insurance. The states are also concerned with the extent to which the statute imposes a financial burden on the states in terms of resources and state personnel. Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum is leading the attack for 13 of the states and filed papers in the Northern District of Florida just after noon today. More states are expected to file in the days and weeks to come. "We simply cannot afford the things that are in this bill that we're mandated to do," McCollum, who is running for governor of Florida, said at a press conference this afternoon. "It's not realistic, it's not hype, it's just very, very wrong." McCollum said he's confident the case will end up before the U.S. Supreme Court and that they will prevail. "There's no provision in the constitution that allows for anybody to be forced to do something when there's no commerce, no action, you're just sitting there," McCollum said of the insurance mandate. "And [the lawsuit] is about the question of forcing the state of Florida and other states, against the sovereignty that's guaranteed in the constitution to our states, to do things that are practically impossible to do." Attorneys general from South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Louisiana, Alabama, Michigan, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Washington, Idaho, and South Dakota joined Florida in the suit. Virginia filed a separate suit in federal court in Richmond because it has a state statute on the books worded specifically to block such a mandate. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told ABC News' Diane Sawyer yesterday that "the Congress legislates, the White House -- the executive branch enforces and the Supreme Court, the judiciary, interprets. We feel very confident about our legislation." In addition to constitutional challenges to the law, legislators in at least 36 states are attempting to limit, alter or oppose some of its provisions through state constitutional amendments or laws, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Many of the proposals seek to keep health insurance coverage optional for individuals and exempt employers from penalties if they don't offer coverage for workers. Earlier this month, Virginia and Idaho became the first states to enact laws specifically stating that health insurance coverage is not required. Still, many legal experts say these legislative efforts will ultimately be trumped by the so-called supremacy clause in the U.S. Constitution, which says federal laws "shall be the supreme law of the land."
II. BREITBART - Three Guantanamo inmates transferred to Georgia
The United States Tuesday transferred three inmates from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to Georgia, a US official said, leaving 183 prisoners still languishing in the controversial US military jail. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said the Georgian ministry of interior had announced "that three Guantanamo detainees were transferred to Georgia." It was believed to be the first time that Georgia has accepted to take in Guantanamo detainees. "We are grateful to the government of Georgia for joining their efforts to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay," Crowley added. President Barack Obama has pledged to close the US military base in Cuba, but his administration has struggled to find countries to take in those cleared of any charges but who cannot be returned to their home countries for various reasons.
III. CSMONITOR - Sudan vote is "a Hitler election"
A day after Sudan president Omar al-Bashir threatened to cut off the fingers off election observers, the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, called Sudan’s upcoming vote “a Hitler election.” Mr. Moreno-Ocampo, who seeks to prosecute Mr. Bashir for crimes committed in Sudan's troubled Darfur region during a war that killed at least 1.9 million people, today said election observers face “a big challenge” in Sudan. “It’s like monitoring a Hitler election,” he said at a press conference in Brussels, according to Agence France-Presse. Bashir is running in the legislative, regional, and presidential elections set for April, the first multi-party vote in 24 years. Last week, however, foreign observers recommended to delay the elections. The Atlanta-based Carter Center voiced concern that Sudan’s election commission can deliver a successful election on time, as the Monitor reported. Bashir shot back by threatening to expel foreign observers. "We want them to observe the elections, but if they interfere in our affairs and demand the delay, we will cut their fingers and put them under our shoes and expel them," he said Monday, according to broadcasts of his speech. Today, as Moreno-Ocampo was calling the upcoming election “a Hitler vote,” a political party in southern Sudan accused the north of attempting to control the election results. Bashir’s ruling National Congress Party has delayed visas for UN helicopter pilots slated to collect votes and instead asked the northern army to transport the ballots, Reuters reports. Bashir's arrest warrant was initially a potent symbol for Darfur's victims, the Monitor reported. But earlier this month on the first anniversary of the ICC issuing its arrest warrant, the Monitor reported that fresh violence had cropped up in the south and the upcoming elections are virtually meaningless for Darfur because of unregistered, displaced populations and widespread insecurity. Following the ICC’s arrest warrant last year, Bashir expelled aid organizations and journalists.
The women’s movement “Femen” has called on the Ukrainian and world communities to sharply react “to the new prime minister’s discriminatory policies towards women.” Femen claims that Nikolay Azarov’s stance on government appointments is that women cannot work in the government as they cannot firmly say “no”, says Rosbalt news agency. On March 19, Azarov said that women do not fit in the government as “implementing reforms in Ukraine is not women’s business.” According to him, when forming the new government, people were chosen who can work 16 hours a day, including weekends, can take responsibilities and are not afraid to say “no” to their bosses. Femen has called on the wives and girlfriends of the members of the cabinet to set up a sex boycott against them “as a protest against the caddish and humiliating attitude towards Ukrainian women.” The organization believes that, taking into consideration earlier words of President Yanukovich that women’s place is in the kitchen and not in politics, the stance of the new Ukrainian authorities displays a dangerous tendency. “The Femen movement stresses that people who have such an archaic attitude towards women – who constitute more than a half of the country’s population – have no right to hold senior roles in the country,” the organization said. They added that in the whole civilized world a similar statement would have meant political death for any high-ranking official.
V. RADIOSRBIJA - ICJ will accelerate European integration of the Balkans
In Luxembourg today, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic had separate talks with the President of the Parliament of that country Laurent Mosar and Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn on the continuation of the European integration of Serbia and the situation in Kosovo. After meeting with Asselborn, Jeremic said that the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legality of the self-proclaimed independence of Kosovo should create conditions for a solution that will contribute to the acceleration of European integration of the entire West Balkans. The Serbian Foreign Minister pointed out that the solution to the issue of the Kosovo status requires consensus that should be reached by the European Union, Serbia and the provisional institutions of government in Pristina. Jean Asselborn expressed belief that Serbia, after the ICJ declares its opinion on Kosovo, will make decisions that will lead to stability in the West Balkans.
VI. GREEKREPORTER - Cyprus International Film Festival Meets Hollywood
Two Greeks from Hollywood participate in the Cyprus International Greek Festival as members of the festival jury. The two talented artists are composer Demetrios Katis and actress Sophia Shinas. The Cyprus International Film Festival ever since its launch five years ago, remains adamant in its objective of giving young and emerging directors of various aspects of audiovisual entertainment – feature films, shorts, animation, music videos, dance films – from whenever they may come from, the opportunity to present their talent before a committee of internationally acclaimed film professionals. ‘Spiritual Child’- of a group of dedicated event organizers, film producers, movie industry professionals, as well as multimedia and audiovisual specialists, who work tirelessly, the festival aspires through film to draw the interest on this beautiful island torn in a cultural intersection of East and West. The fact that year by year the percentage of participation by film-makers increases, shows that our efforts have been successful. Last year we had participation from 61 countries! Artistic director of CYIFF 2010 is director and producer Mr. Tony Srour. Cypriot actor and director, Mr. Costas Demetriou and Greek actress Alexandra Pavlidou, are two of the members of this year’s jury for feature films in competition for the Golden Aphrodite. The festival has been innovative ever since its launch in 2006 and it was the first to establish the category of films “Nostimon Imar” with screenings of film directors of Greek/Cypriot origin who live abroad, as well as the film category “Award-winning Cypriot Directors”. The deadline for applications for Greek/Cypriot feature films and shorts, which have not yet been screened commercially at cinemas in Cyprus, to participate in the competition section of the 5th International Film Festival of Cyprus, is the 30th of June, 2010. Application for volunteers can be found in the website of the festival. The 5th Cyprus International Film Festival is under the Auspices of the Municipality of Nicosia and it is supported by, among other bodies, the Cyprus Tourism Organisation. Information: www.cyprusfilmfestival.org.
VII. CHRISTIANPOST - Egypt's Christians Furious Over 2nd Delay of Murder Trial
Egyptian Christians are extremely upset that the government has again delayed the trial of three Muslims who are accused of killing six Christian youths celebrating Christmas Eve. It is the second time the Egyptian government has postponed the trial of the three men: Hammam al-Qomy, Oreshi Abul Hagag and Hindawi Sayed Hassan. The first delay was on Feb. 13, when the judge adjourned the trial until March 20. The new trial date is April 18. “They have postponed the trial twice, and they are going to postpone it again and again,” said Wagih Yacoub, a Coptic human rights activists, to International Christian Concern. “This is what we worry about. Soon the case will die… and all of a sudden we will wake up one day, and the guys will be innocent, and they will walk around on the street again after killing six kids at the Christmas mass.” “The Copts are furious about this postponement,” he said. “We reject it and demand an immediate trial.” Coptic and Eastern Orthodox Christians were celebrating their Christmas Eve on Jan. 6 when several cars carrying gunmen opened fire on people exiting the church in the upper Egypt town of Nag Hammadi. Six Christians were killed. Another nine were injured. Among those killed were a young man and his fiancé and a 14-year-old boy. Most of those killed were young men in their 20s. The Christmas Eve attack was the worst assault on Copts in Egypt since January 2000, when 21 Christians were killed in sectarian violence. “ICC predicts that once the murders of these Coptic Christians in Nag Hammadi are forgotten, the judge will issue a light sentence, perhaps one to five years imprisonment with bail, and then the murderers will be released back onto the streets,” commented Aidan Clay, ICC regional manager of the Middle East, on Tuesday. He added, “We have seen this occur time and again. Egyptian Muslims who kill Christians in Egypt continue to do so because they are fully aware that their crime will almost always go unpunished.” Egypt’s Christian population makes up eight to 12 percent of the overall population. Despite their sizeable number in the country, the Christian community in Egypt, which consists of mostly Coptic Christians, are marginalized in society and reportedly suffer from violent forms of abuse. They also lack fair representation in the government, leading to further abuse of the minority group. Islam is the “religion of the state” and the country's “principle source of legislation,” according to Egypt’s constitution. Since 2002, Egypt has been on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s “Watch List” for its serious religious freedom violations, including widespread problems of discrimination, intolerance, and other human rights violations against members of religious minorities. “In recent months, we have seen thousands of Coptic Christians around the world take to the streets in protest against the criminal acts of their government,” said Clay. “Let us not see this fervor end, but let us continue to speak out by demanding justice and equality for Egypt’s Christians.”