Confessed al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui took the witness stand in his own defense for the first time Monday, testifying that he was never intended to be one of the Sept. 11, 2001 airplane hijackers. It was the first time the French citizen testified in the death penalty trial. Earlier during questioning Monday, prosecutors questioned a defense witness's assertion Monday that federal agencies missed multiple chances to catch two of the hijackers in the months and years before the attacks. The witness, former FBI agent Erik Rigler, was questioned about a Justice Department report that he said criticized the CIA for keeping intelligence about two known al-Qaida terrorist operatives in the United States from the FBI for more than a year. The two were among the 19 suicide hijackers on 9/11. The report said they had been placed on a watch list in Thailand in January 2000, but not on a U.S. list until August 2001. ...
http://abcnews.go.com
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Editor - 12:42:00 03-27-06
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 Meatpacker Sues Feds Over Mad Cow Test |
A Kansas meatpacker sued the government on Thursday for refusing to let the company test for mad cow disease in every animal it slaughters. Creekstone Farms Premium Beef says it has Japanese customers who want comprehensive testing. The Agriculture Department threatened criminal prosecution if Creekstone did the tests, according to the company's lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington."We're not in any way saying that U.S. beef isn't safe; we believe it's the safest beef supply in the world, but that's not the issue," chief executive John Stewart said at a news conference."We're talking about consumers, and consumers want the product tested," Stewart said.Testing for mad cow disease in the United States is controlled by the department, which tests about 1 percent of the 35 million cattle, or about 350,000, that are slaughtered each year. The department is planning to reduce that level of testing....
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/ap/politics/3743815
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Editor - 12:07:00 03-27-06
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| Immigration dominates southern US politics |
Former Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham was sent to prison earlier this month for taking bribes, provoking a special election in the serene-looking and sunny district he used to serve in Southern California. There are 18 candidates vying for the chance to fill his safe Republican seat in Washington. With such a crowded field, you may have thought the mainly Republican contestants would by trying to outdo each other on political integrity: promising to make up for the sleaze of the recent past. Instead, the campaign rhetoric is focused on immigration. Everybody who lives in this largely affluent area, less than an hour's drive from the Mexican border, agrees that the current system is not working. Latest estimates suggest that there are about 12 million illegal immigrants in the US....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4848588.stm
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Editor - 12:04:00 03-27-06
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| Bush pushes guest-worker program for noncitizens Senate heading toward battle over immigration |
As the Senate arms itself for a contentious immigration debate, President Bush warned Monday that "tough choices" lie ahead.Securing the nation's borders and determining the nation's immigration laws "is not going to be easy," Bush said during an appearance at a naturalization ceremony to swear in new citizens. "It will require all of us in Washington to make tough choices and make compromises.""Debate should be conducted in a civil and dignified way. No one should play on peoples' fears or try to pit neighbors against each other." Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee rushed to finished immigration legislation before a midnight deadline. The full Senate is scheduled to begin debate over immigration Tuesday....
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/03/27/immigration/index.html?section=cnn_us
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Editor - 11:59:00 03-27-06
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| Guantanamo tribunals under court scrutiny |
Osama bin Laden's former driver is at the heart of a U.S. Supreme Court case this week that could determine whether President George W. Bush has the power to use military tribunals in his war on terrorism. The case, focusing on the war crimes tribunals for prisoners at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo, Cuba, also will weigh the balance of power between the presidency and the courts. In 90 minutes of arguments on Tuesday, the session could produce the most significant ruling on presidential war powers since the end of World War Two. "Reduced to its essence, the government's argument is that the federal judiciary has no real power to review actions taken by the president in the name of fighting terrorism," wrote University law professor Neal Katyal, who is defending bin Laden's former driver-bodyguard, Salim Ahmed Hamdan. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1772555
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Editor - 11:54:00 03-27-06
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| British Prime Minister Tony Blair Defends His Policy on Iraq in Speech in Australia |
British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Monday pledged to keep British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan until those countries are stabilized. "If the going is tough, we tough it out," Blair told a rare joint session of Australia's Parliament. Blair told lawmakers that the "immediate threat is from Islamist extremism," which he said was "not a passing spasm of anger but a global ideology at war with us and our way of life." Britain and Australia were the only two nations to send troops to fight alongside U.S. forces in the invasion of Iraq three years ago and both countries still have forces in the country and in Afghanistan fighting Taliban and al-Qaida insurgents. "If we want to secure our way of life, there is no alternative but to fight for it," he said. "That means standing up for our values not just in our own countries but the world over." ...
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1772504&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
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Editor - 11:52:00 03-27-06
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