Slipped into the thick binding of the newly authorized Patriot Act is a provision designed to speed death penalty appeals. The act, signed into law this month, allows states to ask the U.S. attorney general for so-called fast-track reviews of federal habeas corpus petitions - the last appeal of a death row inmate. Previously federal judges made that determination, which is based on whether a state's court-appointed attorneys in death penalty appeals are able to handle them. No state had qualified for the fast-track review, but that could change under the new law. A fast-track review limits the amount of time a prisoner has to appeal and the subject matter of the appeal. ...
http://www.lasvegassun.com
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Editor - 11:16:00 03-28-06
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 Al-Qaida Plotters Dismiss Moussaoui's Role |
Zacarias Moussaoui refused to follow instructions from al-Qaida superiors, pestered them with cell phone calls and otherwise breached the terrorist outfit's way of operating, according to testimony Tuesday in his death penalty trial. A captured al-Qaida official, considered the mastermind of the suicide attack on the USS Cole and an early planner of the Sept. 11, 2001, plot, said in a statement that he did not know of any role for Moussaoui in 9/11. The assertion was from Waleed bin Attash, often known simply as Khallad. Moussaoui's lawyers are presenting statements from a series of al-Qaida operatives in custody, including the chief organizer of the 9/11 attacks, to show Moussaoui was not part of that plot. Moussaoui himself stunned the courtroom Monday by claiming he was to supposed to have been the fifth pilot of a hijacked plane in the Sept. 11 attacks and that his target would have been the White House. He testified against his lawyers' wishes. ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5716476,00.html
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Editor - 09:35:00 03-28-06
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| Philippines blast 'extortion bid' |
An extortion attempt may have been behind an explosion on the southern Philippine island of Jolo which killed nine people, police have said. The grocery shop targeted in the blast had been sent a letter demanding money and warning of a bombing, local police chief Ajiron Ajirim said. No-one has claimed responsibility but police say the al Qaeda-linked militant group Abu Sayyaf may be involved. The separatist group is suspected of criminal activities to fund its fight. A man held for questioning after Monday's blast has been freed. The explosive device was planted on the ground floor of a two-storey building in Jolo town. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4851746.stm
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Editor - 09:31:00 03-28-06
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| US judges to hear Guantanamo case |
The US Supreme Court begins hearing a case on the legality of the military trials at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba. Lawyers for detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan - former driver for Osama Bin Laden - say the tribunals are unconstitutional. Legal experts say a potential landmark ruling against the trials would rein in US President Bush's expanded powers in punishing suspected terrorists. Mr Hamdan, from Yemen, denies charges of conspiracy to commit war crimes. Mr Hamdan, who has been held at Guantanamo since 2002, says he was paid a pittance as Bin Laden's driver in Afghanistan and denies he was a member of al-Qaeda. Of the 490 suspected al-Qaeda and Taleban prisoners detained at the base, 10 people, including Mr Hamdan, face military trials - formally called "military commissions". ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4852316.stm
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Editor - 09:28:00 03-28-06
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| Gunmen kidnap at least 24 Iraqis in Baghdad |
Three groups of gunmen kidnapped 24 Iraqis from businesses in Baghdad on Tuesday, while a car bomb exploded south of the capital as police exchanged fire with two suicide bombers at a police station, wounding a dozen people, officials said. The attacks follow two days of violence that left 151 people dead, including 16 killed Sunday in a U.S.-Iraqi raid that Shiite officials said took place in a mosque. Shiite politicians halted negotiations on a new government in response. Tuesday's abductions occurred separately but within the same half-hour period, the Interior Ministry said. Fifteen gunmen wearing military uniforms but arriving in civilian cars stormed the Moussa Bin Nasir Exchange Co. in the southwest Harthiyah neighborhood about 1 p.m., kidnapping six people and stealing tens of thousands of dollars, police said. ...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-03-28-iraq-violence_x.htm
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Editor - 09:23:00 03-28-06
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| Yushchenko under pressure to reunite orange front |
The Ukrainian president, Viktor Yushchenko, is coming under increasing pressure to form a new union with the leaders of the orange revolution after a preliminary election result put the pro-Moscow opposition leader, Viktor Yanukovich, in the lead.The Ukrainian central election commission said Mr Yanukovich's party was ahead on 30.03% in the parliamentary election, with just over three-quarters of the votes counted.The figures put Mr Yushchenko's party on 15.27% of the vote and that of his former orange revolution ally, Yulia Tymoshenko, on 22.51%. In combination, these two parties have more votes than Mr Yanukovich, but it is unclear whether they would be able to overcome deep personal animosity between their leaders to form the necessary political alliance....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/ukraine/story/0,,1741470,00.html?gusrc=rss
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Editor - 09:00:00 03-28-06
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