US hedge fund managers still getting fat salaries

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From Fazle Rashid
NEW YORK, April 01: There are news galore. Each is competing with the other to get prominence. There are more than 25 hedge fund managers in the US who carry a pay packet exceeding $1.0 billion even in these dire days of crushing recession. David Tepper with $4.0 billion topped the list. Philip Falcone with a pay packet of $825 million was the lowest paid.
A federal court yesterday ruled that the Bush administration had violated a 1978 federal statute requiring court approval for domestic surveillance when it intercepted phone calls of now defunct Islamic charity organisation Al Haramain. The court said the plaintiffs had been subjected to unlawful surveillance saying government is liable to pay them damage, the New York Times in a front page news reported today.
The judge said expansive use of the so-called state-secrets privilege as amounting to unfettered executive branch discretion that had potential for governmental abuse and overreaching.
Swiss government's public prosecutor turned down request by Pakistan's Supreme Court to open anti-corruption cases against country's president Asif Zardari saying he enjoys immunity. The public prosecutor said why don't the government lift the immunity and try Zardari in their own country. Zardari has been accused of making tons of money through illegal means and stashed them in Swiss banks.
Zardari and Benazir Bhutto were convicted by a Swiss court for money laundering in 2003. The verdict was overturned after Parvez Musharraf withdrew the proceedings. In a separate case, the Swiss cabinet announced yesterday that it no longer stands behind court rulings that prevented the UBS from handing over the names of its over 4000 American clients who are suspected to have dodged paying taxes.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai whose invitation to visit US has been revoked because of his two recent meetings with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad was dealt a severe blow with law makers overwhelmingly passing a bill to prevent Karzai from taking over the total control of country's Electoral Complaints Commission. Karzai is trying to distance himself from America and west by courting new friends in Iran and China. Karzai has been accused of winning the election through widespread fraud and vote rigging in which his younger brother was deeply involved.