 A top British judge on Thursday permitted three British residents being held at Guantanamo Bay to take legal action in order to force the government to facilitate their release.Judge Andrew Collins told London's High Court that the United States' idea of what constituted torture was "not the same as ours and doesn't appear to coincide with that of most civilized countries." Iraqi Bisher al-Rawi and his Jordanian business partner, Jamil el-Banna, were both detained in Gambia three years ago, whilst Omar Deghayes was detained in Pakistan — all three are long-term British residents. The case could come to court as early as next week. Despite Collins' comments and his decision to allow the three to mount a full scale bid to force the British government to seek their freedom, the judge said there was no guarantee when the case was heard it would succeed. He said there were formidable arguments against such an order being made. ...
http://abcnews.go.com
censor News |
Editor - 13:25:00 02-16-06
|
 US right has hijacked religious vote, says evangelical |
One of the most influential religious figures in the US has called on progressive Christians to seize the religious agenda from the right.Jim Wallis - who has been consulted by US presidents as well as Tony Blair and Gordon Brown - yesterday urged liberal Christians to move the agenda from the right's focus of sexual morality to a less partisan approach.The 57-year-old, of Washington DC, is a long-term campaigner for social justice and fighting poverty. "We need a moral discourse in public life, and it is wrong for the left to leave it to the political right to define the issues," he said. "The left lacks respect and is too often disdainful and condescending in listening to people of faith."Religion does not have a monopoly of morality - the issue is not whether a person has a personal faith but whether they have a moral compass."...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1710985,00.html
full News |
Editor - 10:57:00 02-16-06
|
| Bush plans huge propaganda campaign in Iran |
The Bush administration made an emergency request to Congress yesterday for a seven-fold increase in funding to mount the biggest ever propaganda campaign against the Tehran government, in a further sign of the worsening crisis between Iran and the west.Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, said the $75m in extra funds, on top of $10m already allocated for later this year, would be used to broadcast US radio & TV programmes into Iran, help pay for Iranians to study in America and support pro-democracy groups inside the country. Although US officials acknowledge the limitations of such a campaign, the state department is determined to press ahead with measures that include extending the government-run Voice of America's Farsi service from a few hours a day to round-the-clock coverage. The sudden budget request, which follows an outlay of only $4m over the last two years, is to be accompanied by a diplomatic drive by Ms Rice to discuss Tehran's suspect nuclear weapons programme...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1710699,00.html
full News |
Editor - 10:51:00 02-16-06
|
| Slovenia finds bird flu in swan |
Slovenia has confirmed that a swan found dead in the north of the country had the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus. The swan was sent for testing in Italy after it was found last week near the city of Maribor, close to the Austrian border. It is Slovenia's first case. It comes two days after Austria confirmed its first cases of bird flu. The H5N1 strain of the virus, which can kill humans through contact with infected animals, has also been found in Italy, Germany, Greece and Bulgaria. Slovenia's government has already set up a protection zone within a 3km (two-mile) radius of where the swan was found and a 10km surveillance zone beyond that. Nearly 200 birds were culled at a nearby farm and farmers across Slovenia have been ordered to keep their poultry away from wild birds and report any suspicious illness. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4720366.stm
full News |
Editor - 10:39:00 02-16-06
|
| Mine giant settles pollution case |
The US mining giant Newmont has agreed to pay Indonesia $30m in an out-of-court settlement over alleged pollution in North Sulawesi. The money will be paid over 10 years to fund environmental monitoring and community development. The Indonesian government will drop a civil case against Newmont, but a criminal trial of a top local executive will continue. The civil suit had sought damages of $133m from the US firm. But the case was thrown out by a court last November. Richard Ness, president of Newmont Minahasa Raya, went on trial in August in the criminal case, and faces a maximum 10-year jail sentence if convicted. "This will not stop the ongoing criminal case," Chief Social Welfare Minister Aburizal Bakrie said after the out-of-court settlement was signed in Jakarta on Thursday. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4718672.stm
full News |
Editor - 10:35:00 02-16-06
|
| Judge orders response on eavesdropping records |
A federal judge on Thursday ordered the U.S. Justice Department to respond within 20 days to requests by a civil liberties group for documents about President George W. Bush's domestic eavesdropping program. The ruling was a victory for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which sued the department under the Freedom of Information Act in seeking the release of the documents. U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy ruled that the department must finish processing the group's requests and produce or identify all records within 20 days. "Given the great public and media attention that the government's warrantless surveillance program has garnered and the recent hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the public interest is particularly well served by the timely release of the requested documents," he said. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1627472
full News |
Editor - 10:32:00 02-16-06
|
|
| post The Good, The Bad and The Ugly |
|
|
