Boycotts

Pakistani lawyers said they would boycott courts in a southwestern province today after an alleged raid by armed intelligence agents at the home of a nephew of the country's suspended chief justice. Amir Rana, a lawyer and nephew of ousted Supreme Court chief Judge Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, said he fired a pistol to scare off more than a dozen armed intelligence agents at his home in Baluchistan. The judge's suspension has incited protests against President Pervez Musharraf.

Amma, the renowned mystic known as the "hugging saint of India," arrived in Los Angeles over the weekend for five days of spiritual events, but the city's labor leaders are responding with the back of their hands. The problem is Amma's choice of venue for her events: the Hilton Los Angeles Airport hotel.

Twentieth Century Fox is on the edge of an Internet publicity crisis. It's Day 10 of the Chicago Film Critics Assn. boycott on all Fox and Fox Searchlight films, a protest against the studio's practice of limiting online critics' access to screenings. Now critics all over the country are coming forward to echo their complaints and promise solidarity, revealing a simmering hostility between studios and many online journalists. Critics in Washington, D.C.

At least four more ministers announced a boycott of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's beleaguered government Monday, deepening the crisis sparked less than a week ago by the withdrawal of six Sunni Muslim Cabinet members. Almost half the members of Maliki's Cabinet -- 17 ministers -- have withdrawn or boycotted, citing the prime minister's unwillingness to include them in major decisions or to meet demands to curb Shiite Muslim militias and release Sunni Arab prisoners held without charges.

Four months ago, Gwen Gampon wired $1,030 to her brother from a Western Union Co. outlet in Anaheim during a family emergency. In Hawaii, her brother, who is unemployed and doesn't have a checking account, ended up with just $950 -- after the money-transfer company deducted a $79.99 fee for the immediate transaction. "Western Union is seen as a lifeline," said Gampon, a refinery worker from Garden Grove.

The rich red hue of Myanmar's prized rubies is a reminder to many gem dealers of the military government's bloody crackdown on democracy advocates, and talk of a boycott is increasing. "There is a growing awareness that it is a fascist regime," said Brian Leber, a third-generation American gem dealer in Western Springs, Ill. "Considering what this regime has done to its own people, we're troubled to see that a precious stone is offering such a great source of cash for them."

And the winner is . . . not here? The Golden Globe Awards are a highly rated NBC event, an often irreverent ceremony brimming with A-list stars. If the Writers Guild of America strike against the TV networks and movie studios isn't resolved, the WGA could picket the Jan. 13 show, potentially resulting in a ceremony with all the celebrity clout of a charity bowling tournament.

The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that shopping malls cannot stop protesters from urging a public boycott of the stores, even if the demonstrators are on mall property. The 4-3 decision upholds a 27-year precedent protecting free speech rights at shopping centers, even if the malls are privately owned. The case started in 1998, when the pressroom union was embroiled in a contract dispute with the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper.

News item: Terje Haakonsen will not be present during the Winter Olympics at Turin, Italy. Reaction: Terje who? To some it seems like ages ago when the world's greatest snowboarder said those nasty things about those who run the world's greatest sports festival. Specifically, he compared then-International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch to mobster Al Capone and referred to IOC members as "ski-Nazis."

Immigrant-rights advocates on Thursday urged Costa Mesa businesses to fight the city's plan to use police to enforce immigration laws when arresting suspected felons and warned of a boycott if they didn't. They also urged residents to immediately stop cooperating with Costa Mesa police in crime investigations, and they announced plans for an April 1 protest at Costa Mesa City Hall. Organizers said businesses needed to take a stand.