 Australian David Hicks is set to become the first Guantanamo Bay detainee to attend a hearing under revised US military tribunal rules. His lawyers said they may plea bargain to avoid a full trial and try to have him handed into Australian custody. Otherwise, Mr Hicks should proceed to the full trial by July. David Hicks is the first to be charged under the new Military Commissions Act, accused of training and fighting with al-Qaeda and the Taleban. One of Mr Hicks's defence team, David McLeod, said nothing had yet been decided on a possible plea bargain. He said the five years his client had spent at the Cuban base had "begun to take a toll". "Today he had dark, sunken eyes and he looked very tired," Mr McLeod said after a meeting with Mr Hicks on Sunday. "If it was yourself I suspect you would be thinking about how to get out of this place." ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk
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Editor - 10:22:00 03-26-07
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 Smithsonian chief resigns after expenses audit |
The Smithsonian Institution announced Monday that its top official, Secretary Lawrence M. Small, has resigned amid criticism about his expenses. Small resigned over the weekend, and the decision was unanimously accepted Sunday by the Smithsonian's Board of Regents. Cristian Samper, director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, has been appointed acting secretary while the regents conduct a nationwide search for a permanent replacement. An internal audit in January found that Small had made $90,000 in unauthorized expenses, including private jet travel and expensive gifts. The audit also found that Small charged the Smithsonian more than $1.1 million for use of his home since 2000. The housing expenses included $273,000 for housekeeping, $2,535 to clean a chandelier and $12,000 for service on his backyard swimming pool....
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-26-smithsonian-resignation_N.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 10:19:00 03-26-07
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| Sri Lankan rebels launch their first airstrike, hitting military base on edge of capital |
First came the Black Tiger suicide bombers, then the Sea Tiger navy gunboats. Now, Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have a new unit — the Air Tigers.At least one small propeller plane dropped three bombs on a Sri Lankan air force base on the edge of Sri Lanka's capital around 1 a.m. Monday, the rebels' first airstrike in their nearly quarter-century insurgency.The rebels' attack was of limited military significance, killing only three people and leaving aircraft on the ground unscathed. But it was of great psychological import, showing the rebels have a new weapon that can strike deep inside the normally placid southern heartland of Sri Lanka's Sinhalese majority."If someone can come in an aircraft and attack a place like the air force base definitely they can hit anywhere in Sri Lanka," said Lalantha Rasika, a 33-year-old businessman in Colombo. "The country's security is not in good shape."...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-03-26-tigers-attack_N.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 10:17:00 03-26-07
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| Ethics Complaint Refiled Against New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine |
Gov. Jon S. Corzine's top ethics advisers were asked Monday to investigate whether gifts he gave a former girlfriend who heads a union for state employees created a conflict of interest. Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan said he filed a complaint with the Ethics Advisory Panel about Corzine's relationship with Carla Katz, president of Communications Workers of America Local 1034, the largest state worker union chapter. The panel was created under an executive order that established a gubernatorial conduct code. Its two members are appointed by the Democratic governor. Lonegan, a Republican, refiled the complaint after it was rejected Friday by the State Ethics Commission. The governor's office had no immediate comment. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2982244
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Editor - 10:14:00 03-26-07
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| Iran says it is interrogating detained Britons 'Decision will be made,' official quoted as saying of 15 sailors and marines |
Iran said Monday it was interrogating 15 detained British sailors and marines detained in disputed waters to determine whether they intentionally entered its territory — an indication the country might be seeking a way out of the confrontation with Britain. Britain denies its personnel had left Iraqi territory when they were captured and detained by Iran — a contention backed by Iraq’s foreign minister, who called on Iran to release the group. In comments read out by a newscaster, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mehzi Mostafavi did not say what Iran plans to do with the British sailors, but he said they were being interrogated at a secret location. Iran says they are being well-treated. “It should become clear whether their entry (into Iran) was intentional or unintentional. After that is clarified, the necessary decision will be made,” Mostafavi said....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17797395/
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Editor - 10:13:00 03-26-07
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| Turnout low to amend Egypt's constitution |
Many polling stations stood virtually deserted today as Egypt held a referendum on constitutional amendments that opponents have condemned as a sham and a setback to democratic progress. Opposition parties called for a boycott of the referendum, but turnout also was hurt by widespread apathy and confusion over the changes, which were pushed to a public vote only a week after they were approved by parliament. "I don't know what I'm voting for," said Hassan Abdel Salaam, a house painter casting his ballot at a Cairo polling station. "If I didn't vote, maybe I would get into trouble. I have five children, and we live in one room." At several stations, the government bused in public employees to cast ballots, and state media ran messages urging voters to turn out. In one Cairo district, a truck plastered with posters of President Hosni Mubarak blared messages through a loudspeaker calling on residents to vote "for the sake of your children and your future."...
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20070326-014736-5201r.htm
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Editor - 10:11:00 03-26-07
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