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But that isn’t happening at numerous agencies, a Washington Post analysis shows. So far, 33 federal departments and agencies have awarded more than $1.2 billion in stimulus contracts to at least 30 companies that are ranked by one watchdog group as among the most egregious offenders of state and federal laws.

Government records show that as a group, these contractors have sold defective products, manufactured safety tests, submitted false travel claims and padded contracts with fraudulent fees.

…

Judith Neal called a hotline and exposed Honeywell for fabricating tests on at least $7 million in ammunition it manufactured and sold in 1987, according to a court finding. She’s watched as similar incidents have continued for two decades.

At the time, both Neal, who worked in the company’s personnel department, and the Justice Department prevailed in court against Honeywell. However, the federal government secured $2 million from the company and $400,000 in ammunition, not even half the value of the faulty ammunition, records show. Such disparities in cost recoveries continue and are common.

The Watford Borough Council policy has been attacked as insulting and a disgrace by furious relatives who say they are being labelled as potential paedophiles.

It will further fuel concerns over a growing nanny state amid the deepening row over the Government’s new national anti-paedophile database.

That will see at least 11 million adults have to be vetted to work with children or vulnerable adults, including parents who give officials lifts to and from social or sports clubs.

Councillors in Watford claim they are only following Government guidelines and cannot allow adults to walk around playgrounds “unchecked”.

But Osfted dismissed the ban while parents branded it “a joke”.

The rules have been imposed at Harwoods and Harebreaks adventure recreation grounds.

Activities on the half acre sites include a skateboard half-pipe, a zip line, rope swings, den building, arts and crafts, plus a wide range of indoor and outdoor sports activities.

The decision by the world’s biggest oil exporter could encourage other producers to abandon the benchmark and threatens the dominance of the world’s most heavily traded oil futures contract. It is the main contract traded on Nymex.

The move reveals the growing discontent of Riyadh and its US refinery customers with WTI after the price of the price of the benchmark became separated from the global oil market this year.

The surge in oil inventories in Cushing, Oklahoma, where WTI is delivered into America’s pipeline system, depressed the value of the WTI against other global benchmarks, throwing the global oil market into disarray.

In January, WTI, which usually trades at a premium of $1-$2 a barrel to Brent, fell sharply, leaving it at a discount of almost $12 – a record gap. This dislocation in the market continued well into the summer.

From January, Saudi Arabia will base the price of oil for its US customers on a new index developed by Argus, the London-based oil pricing company.

The Argus Sour Crude Index will track the price in the physical market of a basket of US Gulf Coast crudes, including Mars, Poseidon and Southern Green Canyon.

Argus said the change in policy reflected the “increased importance of the US Gulf coast sour crude market, in which both production and trading activity was rising sharply”.

Paul Horsnell, head of commodities research at Barclays Capital in London, said Saudi Arabia’s decision was likely to reflect a “wider discontent” from its customers in the US about WTI performance.

ExxonMobil, Marathon and Valero are among the US’s biggest buyers of Saudi crude oil.

Edward Morse, chief economist at LCM Commodities in New York, said: “It is a recognition by large players that WTI sometimes does not reflect the true value of crude oil in the waterborne market.”

Saudi Arabia has priced its oil using WTI since 1994.

The price was based on quotes from the physical market which were compiled by Platt’s, a unit of McGraw-Hill.

Oil companies then covered their exposure to WTI using the futures market on Nymex.

Bob Levin, managing director of market research at the CME Group-owned Nymex, said the exchange was ready to move with the market.

“We plan to introduce a cash-settled futures contract tracking the new Argus index,” he said.

“Why are you here?” shouts a voice.

“For robbing,” one of the boys mumbles.

“You see. You were little rats and now look at you,” replies the interrogator.

The torture video of the five alleged house burglars was posted on the internet last week. It is the latest sign of brutal vigilante justice spreading across Mexico.

As kidnappings, muggings and car jackings spiral out of control, and the authorities appear increasingly impotent, shadowy groups have been advocating justice by the sword.

In other recent cases, alleged kidnappers and car thieves have been abducted and murdered and had their corpses dumped in public places along with threatening notes.

There are also rising cases of mobs lynching alleged thieves and leaving them beaten, naked and tied up.

“The government is failing to provide security and people are turning to some brutal alternatives,” said Rossana Reguillo, who studies crime and violence at the Jesuit University of Guadalajara. “This is not something that has always been around in Mexico. It is a new phenomenon that has been growing since 2000.”

In the latest case, the five teenagers were abducted after they allegedly robbed a house in the town of Tepic in the Pacific state of Nayarit.

The boys — all students of a local high school — were taken to an abandoned building where they had their heads shaved and then were beaten by fists and rifle butts and threatened at gun point, as shown on the video. One of the torturers is heard on the film saying he is the man whose house was robbed.

The teenagers were also forced to perform sexual acts — including kissing each other in front of the camera — as a humiliation. The gunmen are heard threatening to cut their hands off unless they comply.

After being held all night the students were dumped naked on the street and then attended at hospital for injuries including broken ribs.

The torture film was posted on YouTube under the title “Little Rats of Tepic.” YouTube’s monitors quickly removed it from the site, flagging it as unsuitable content.

Following an outcry over the film, police on Monday arrested four building workers for the torture.

The U.S. government may inject an additional $2.8 billion to $5.6 billion into GMAC, the person said, declining to be identified because the transaction hasn’t been completed. The deal would involve the issuance of preferred stock, allowing the government to expand its 35.4 percent stake in the Detroit-based company if existing shares are converted into common equity, the person said.

“It’s outrageous that the taxpayers are being asked yet again to support a troubled enterprise,” said Sean Egan, president of Egan-Jones Ratings Co. in Haverford, Pennsylvania. “When will it end?”

The chemical – curcumin – has long been thought to have healing powers and is already being tested as a treatment for arthritis and even dementia.

Now tests by a team at the Cork Cancer Research Centre show it can destroy gullet cancer cells in the lab.

Cancer experts said the findings in the British Journal of Cancer could help doctors find new treatments.

Dr Sharon McKenna and her team found that curcumin started to kill cancer cells within 24 hours.

‘Natural’ remedy

The cells also began to digest themselves, after the curcumin triggered lethal cell death signals.