■VENEZUELA
Court rules for three judges
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled on Saturday that three judges sacked by the government in 2003 must be rehired and compensated for their trial costs, but cast no doubt on the independence of the nation’s judiciary. The three judges told the autonomous judicial institution of the Organization of American States that they were fired for political reasons, while the country argued they had made an “unforgivable judicial error” in a case involving a real estate deal. The human rights court said the three judges must be rehired, if they so choose, and paid US$5,000 each “for court costs incurred” at their trial.
■UNITED STATES
Fay lowered to depression
The National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Fay has been downgraded to a tropical depression. Heavy rain is still expected along the Gulf Coast as the depression continues to move west northwest at about 13kph. Maximum sustained winds are now 56kph. At least 12 deaths in the US were blamed on the storm. Fay set a record with four landfalls in Florida before it was downgraded on Saturday night. Thousands of homes and businesses were inundated with flood waters this week as the storm worked its way north from its first landfall in the Florida Keys and zigzagged across the peninsula.
■UNITED STATES
Coach fired over angry fit
Fort Hays State University in Wichita, Kansas, has fired its debate coach for losing his temper at a tournament, engaging in a videotaped shouting match that included pulling down his shorts to expose his underwear. University president Edward Hammond also announced on Friday that the school was immediately suspending its debate program until problems are addressed at the national level. He said it was important to take a stand against the declining standards of college debate, which he said are laced with profanity and a lack of personal respect and civility.
■UNITED STATES
Typo fixers get probation
When it comes to marking up historic signs, good grammar is a bad defense. Two self-styled vigilantes against typos who defaced a more than 60-year-old, hand-painted sign at Grand Canyon National Park were sentenced to probation and banned from national parks for a year. Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson pleaded guilty on Aug. 11 for the damage done on March 28 at the park’s Desert View Watchtower. The sign was made by Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, the architect who designed the rustic 1930s watchtower and other Grand Canyon-area landmarks. Deck and Herson, both 28, toured the US this spring, wiping out errors on signs.
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