Can the SEC Be Sued for Failing to Catch Madoff?

The SEC internal-investigation report released on Wednesday points a clear finger of blame at the agency, stating that SEC investigators missed multiple opportunities to discover Bernard Madoff’s criminal activities. But while the report hammers the SEC for repeated instances of incompetence, it stops well short of declaring the SEC liable

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Social workers threaten to thwart teen sailor’s record bid

A Dutch Court will decide the fate Friday of 13-year-old Laura Dekker, either making her a potential world-record-breaking sailor, or returning her to school. Welfare services in the Netherlands have taken legal action to try to stop the teen from attempting to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world because they believe the voyage will be too dangerous.

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PTA Fundraisers: Can a Bake Sale Save a Teacher’s Job?

How many bake sales does it take to save a teacher’s job? For decades, public-school parents have organized such fundraising events to cover the costs of field trips, sports equipment and other frills that enrich their children’s education. Yet now, as recession clouds hang ever lower and state budgets tighten, schools and districts are increasingly asking adults to help pay for essentials

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Best-dressed people in world

Diane Schuler, 36, had a blood alcohol level of 0.19, according to the district attorney’s office. “My office, along with the New York State Police, will continue to investigate the facts and circumstances that led up to the collision causing the deaths, so that the public and the families of the victims can understand what led to this horrific crash,” District Attorney Janet DiFiore said in a statement released Tuesday. The head-on crash happened July 26 when a minivan driven by Schuler and carrying five children was heading the wrong way on a northbound lane of the Taconic State Parkway about 30 miles north of New York City, police said.

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Man charged with murder in Kansas doctor’s death

Kansas prosecutors have brought murder and assault charges against the man suspected of killing Wichita physician George Tiller, whose women’s clinic was a frequent target of protests against abortion. Scott Roeder, 51, is being held without bail on a first-degree murder charge and two counts of aggravated assault stemming from Tiller’s shooting death Sunday morning, Sedgwick County District Judge Ben Burgess said. Burgess set a preliminary hearing in the case for June 16.

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Pakistan sends troops to area grabbed by Taliban

Pakistani authorities on Thursday deployed paramilitary troops to a district, only 96 kilometers (60 miles) from the capital, where Taliban militants appeared to be consolidating control after this week’s land-grab. Militants locked up courthouses and seized court documents in the district of Buner, said police Superintendent Arsala Khan.

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