WASHINGTON, Jan 11: A US federal appeals court upheld today a multibillion-dollar settlement between BP and coastal residents and businesses hit by the company’s massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010.
The British energy giant reached a USD 7.8 billion settlement in 2012 with thousands of claimants hit by the worst environmental disaster in US history.
But it had been challenging the way Patrick Juneau, a court-appointed administrator of claims, calculates companies’ compensation for lost profits.
The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that US District Judge Carl Barbier was correct in rejecting a BP bid to require companies to prove that their losses were directly linked to the spill before getting a payout.
The plaintiffs were quick to hail the decision.
“Today’s ruling is an enormous victory for the Gulf, and an important step forward in ensuring that every eligible claimant is fully compensated according to the objective, transparent formulas spelled out in the settlement agreement that BP co-authored and agreed to,” lawyers Steve Herman and Jim Roy said in a statement.
BP did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In its 48-page decision, a divided three-judge panel of the appellate court said that it could not agree with arguments raised by BP and other appellants.
A divided three-judge panel of the court said in its 48-page ruling that it could not agree with arguments raised by BP and other appellants and affirmed Barbier’s initial ruling in 2012.
“We cannot agree with the arguments raised by the objectors or BP,” the document read, citing federal rules governing class action lawsuits.
“Neither class certification nor settlement approval are contrary to Article III in this case,” it added, referring to federal law.
One of the judges, Emilio Garza, disagreed.
“Whether a class member was economically injured is immaterial if that loss was not caused by the oil spill,” Garza said in a 14-page dissent.
“Absent an actual causation requirement for all class members, Rule 23 is not being used to simply aggregate similar cases and controversies, but rather to impermissibly extend the judicial power of the United States into administering a private handout programme.”
In December, Barbier said the 2012 settlement negotiated with US authorities and accepted by BP presumed an oil spill link for any losses to businesses within certain geographical zones and in certain sectors. (AGENCIES)

DHAKA, Jan 11: Former Bangladeshi military ruler H M Ershad, whose Jatiya Party is a key ally of the ruling Awami League, today took oath as a lawmaker despite his earlier decision to boycott the general election.
His earlier decision had triggered speculation that Ershad might not serve as a lawmaker despite his election from a seat in Rangpur, and his wife Raushan may head the party in parliament.
Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury administered the oath to the 83-year-old Jatiya Party chairman just past midday.
Ershad has played flip-flop before the January 5 polls, first agreeing to contest them and then saying he was boycotting them a day after submitting his nomination papers.
In a dramatic episode before the polls, the former dictator-turned-politician was brought to the military hospital for “treatment”.
He has been in the military hospital since December 12. The Election Commission had declined to accept his plea, sent from hospital, to withdraw his candidature.
The Jatiya Party won 33 seats – 20 without any contest – in the polls boycotted by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led opposition alliance.
Ershad today evaded media after he was sworn in, two days after his fellow party MPs took oath under the leadership of Raushan.
Witnesses said he entered parliament through a route used by the President, Prime Minister and Deputy Leader of the House.
No Jatiya Party leader was seen accompanying Ershad as he came out of hospital, where is was being treated to “regain his fitness”, to go to parliament.
Earlier, Raushan said she would function as opposition leader, fuelling speculation about the stand of her husband. (AGENCIES)

KIEV, Jan 11: At least ten people, including a former interior minister, were injured in the early hours today morning in clashes between riot police and protesters outside a courthouse in Ukraine’s capital Kiev, witnesses said.
In the first clashes since last month, police using tear gas and batons tried to disperse a couple of hundred people protesting against three activists being sentenced to six years in jail, a case seen by protesters as politically motivated.
About 10 km (6 miles) away, several thousand people have set up camp in central Kiev to protest against President Viktor Yanukovich’s decision to abandon the trade agreement with Europe in favour of closer cooperation with Russia. Protests began in late November and increased significantly in early December after riot police violently broke up a student demonstration in Kiev’s main square.
Yuri Lutsenko, a minister in the Government of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, was among the injured protesters. Lutsenko, pardoned last year by Yanukovich, was hit in the head, witnesses said.
The police said in a statement they had no information about anyone being injured. (AGENCIES)

BEIJING, Jan 11: China today said it will step up efforts to make its currency, the renminbi or yuan, convertible under the capital account this year.
Accelerating yuan convertibility is one of the major tasks for forex authorities, China’s forex regulator State Administration of Foreign Exchange said in a statement after a meeting of key officials.
The officials should facilitate international trade and investment denominated and settled in yuan, guard against impacts of cross-border capital movement and prevent systemic and regional risks, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The yuan is currently only convertible under the current account, while its capital account convertibility is controlled by the state.
The Government has on many occasions stressed the need to realise full convertibility to help the currency’s internationalisation to reduce dependence on the US dollar.
While pushing bilateral trade with many counties to be done in yuan, China has permitted convertibility of the currency under capital account at the new Shanghai Foreign Trade Zone, regarded a test bed for new reforms launched by the Government to revitalise the slowing down economy. (AGENCIES)

KATHMANDU, Jan     11: Unfazed by political uncertainty in Nepal, nearly 7 lakh Indians visited the country in 2012, constituting more than half the total number of foreign tourists.
A total of 694,136 Indians visited Nepal in 2012 via air and land routes, according to the statistics released by country’s tourism authority.
According to the Nepal Tourism Statistics 2012 released by the Tourism Ministry, India ranked as one of the leading sources of tourists with 21 per cent of arrivals, followed by China, the US and UK.
The figure was based on arrival data of the Tribhuvan International Airport and an overland tourist arrivals survey conducted by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB).
According to the estimate, 1.33 million foreigners visited in 2012 through air and surface routes.
The survey was based on the number of vehicles crossing the Nepal-India border through eight land routes, according to NTB officials.
The number of Indian visitors coming to Nepal via land routes has gone up by 70 per cent compared to the data for 2010, according to the survey.
The survey has assumed that a bus carries 32 passengers while cars and jeeps carry five, and a motorcycle one passenger.
The survey has taken into account mainly visitors traveling by bus, jeep, car and motorcycle. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI, Jan 11: Copper and nickel prices strengthened by Rs 2 per kg on the local non-ferrous base metals market today on increased demand from consuming industries.
Traders said rising demand from consuming industries mainly supported the upside in copper and nickel prices.
In the national capital, copper mixed scrap and nickel (4×4) advanced by by Rs 2 each to Rs 432 and Rs 1,077-1,078 per kg, respectively.
The following are today’s metal rates per kg:
Zinc ingot 113-119, nickel plate (4×4) 1,077-1,078 gun metal scrap 227, bell metal scrap 229, copper mixed scrap 432, chadri deshi 285.
Lead ingot 136,lead imported 134, aluminium ingots 150, Aluminium sheet cutting 151, aluminium wire scrap 153 and aluminium utensils scrap 150. (AGENCIES)

RAMADI (IRAQ), Jan 11: Gunmen held crucial territory on Baghdad’s doorstep today despite tribesmen and police retaking militant-held areas west of the capital, as the UN Security Council backed Iraq’s efforts against Al-Qaeda-linked extremists.
Battles in Anbar provincial capital Ramadi saw Al-Qaeda-linked fighters cede control of two neighbourhoods, but the former insurgent bastion of Fallujah, where US forces fought some of their bloodiest battles since the Vietnam War, remained in militant hands.
The United Nations and NGOs have said civilians lack access to essential supplies such as food and fuel because of the crisis, while Washington has piled pressure on Baghdad to focus on political reconciliation, in addition to ongoing military operations.
Gunmen seized all of Fallujah, just 60 kilometres from Baghdad, and parts of Ramadi last week, the first time militants have exercised such open control in major cities since the insurgency that followed the 2003 US-led invasion.
Both cities lie in Anbar province, a sprawling desert region in west Iraq bordering Syria where US and Iraqi officials have warned for months that jihadists have been able to establish training camps and rear bases.
Yesterday, tribesmen and local police retook the Malaab and Fursan areas of Ramadi from Al-Qaeda-linked militants, tribal military commander Mohammed Khamis Abu Risha told reporters.
“We fought ISIL alongside our sons from the local police forces and returned them to their stations,” Abu Risha said, referring to the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group.
“They only control 10 per cent of Ramadi territory,” he said of ISIL.
ISIL has been active in the Anbar fighting, but so have anti-Government tribes.
At the same time, security forces have recruited their own tribal allies in the fighting that has raged in Anbar for more than 10 days.
An journalist in Ramadi also saw tribesmen and police apparently in control of the two areas.
Two civilians were killed and four others were wounded in violence in the city, according to a doctor, while eight militants also suffered injuries.
In Fallujah, which remained in the control of gunmen, a prayer leader called for provincial sheikhs to intervene to resolve the crisis in the city, but warned the Government “should not use the army for internal fighting in the cities”.
Sheikh Abdulhamid Jadua also urged people during yesterday prayers not to “make Fallujah a place that attracts killing and blood”. (AGENCIES)