Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives in Islamabad today for talks with Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf that will likely center on the rebel resurgence in neighboring Afghanistan. The U.S. and its partners are trying to roll back advances by the Taliban, the Islamist militia that once ruled Afghanistan, and some critics have raised questions about how determined Musharraf is to support that aim. ``I would hope that Secretary Rice would be able to persuade him to demonstrate the same level of commitment that he made after 9/11 to the current military effort in Afghanistan,'' said Karl Inderfurth, former assistant secretary of state for South Asia under President Bill Clinton. ...
http://quote.bloomberg.com
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Editor - 22:08:00 06-26-06
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 Congressman Wants N.Y. Times Prosecuted. |
The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee called Sunday for criminal prosecution of the New York Times, saying its report Friday on U.S. government surveillance of confidential banking records "compromised America's anti-terrorist policies." Interviewed on "Fox News Sunday," Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.) said the newspaper compromised national security when it exposed a Treasury Department program that secretly monitored worldwide money transfers to track terrorist financing. The program, instituted after the Sept. 11 attacks, bypasses traditional safeguards against government abuse. They would love to prosecute this as some kind of “helping the enemy in time of war” but they can’t. Just like when Jane Fonda was threatened with the charge of giving aid and comfort to the enemy, it was a hollow threat. Because they neglected that legal point of Declaring War. And without a Declaration of war, it’s all Bull Shit and they know it. The fact is, this is an illegal war...
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-paper26jun26,0,589033.story
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Editor - 13:36:00 06-26-06
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| Somali militia leader wants Islamic gov't |
An Islamic cleric accused by Washington of collaborating with al-Qaeda said Monday he will only support a government based on Islam in his new role as head of a militia that controls Somalia's capital and much of the country's south. "Somalia is a Muslim nation and its people are also Muslim, 100%," Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys told The Associated Press in his first comments to the media since being named head of the Islamic militia over the weekend. The militia defeated U.S.-backed secular warlords and seized Mogadishu and much of the south this month. Last week it struck a mutual recognition deal with the largely powerless U.N.-backed interim government. Aweys, who is on a U.S. list of people with alleged ties to international terrorism, was appointed leader of the militia Saturday, replacing a more moderate cleric who agreed to negotiate with the interim government. None of the militia leaders who voted for the surprise change in leadership has publicly explained the reason for it. ...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-06-26-somalia_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 11:30:00 06-26-06
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| Campaign Finance Rules Struck Down by U.S. High Court |
The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to efforts to reduce the role of money in political campaigns, striking down Vermont caps on contributions and candidate spending. The justices, voting 6-3, said for the first time that a state's donation limits were so low they violated the free speech clause of the Constitution. Vermont's contribution caps, as low as $200 for some races, were the most restrictive in the nation. ``We must recognize the existence of some lower bound,'' Justice Stephen Breyer wrote in the court's lead opinion. ``At some point the constitutional risks to the democratic electoral process become too great.'' By the same vote, the court also reaffirmed a 30-year-old decision barring states from curbing candidate spending. ...
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aCfVerNfxGZo&refer=home
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Editor - 11:25:00 06-26-06
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| China media face disaster fines |
China is considering imposing financial penalties on media outlets which report emergency incidents without prior government agreement. Media organisations could face fines of more than $10,000 if they disobey. It is unclear when the regulations might come into force and whether they cover international media organisations as well as local ones. China's authorities have always exerted tight control over the coverage of emergencies. They often impose news blackouts on stories they feel might damage the image of the Communist Party. Last year, officials in north-east China at first covered up a toxic chemical spill in the Songhua River, which meant nine million residents in the city of Harbin were without public water supplies for nearly a week. These proposed new rules are part of an ongoing government campaign to tighten up on China's already limited media freedoms. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5116928.stm
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Editor - 11:20:00 06-26-06
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| Alito Breaks Tie to Uphold Kansas Death Penalty Law |
New Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito broke a tie Monday to rule that Kansas' death penalty law is constitutional. By a 5-to-4 vote, the justices said the Kansas Supreme Court incorrectly interpreted the Eighth Amendment's protection against cruel and unusual punishment to strike down the state's death penalty statute. The Kansas court said the state's death penalty law improperly forced jurors to impose a capital sentence even if they believed that the prosecution and defense evidence were equal in weight.But the justices disagreed. Writing for the majority, Justice Clarence Thomas disputed the claim by critics that the law created "a general presumption in favor of the death penalty in the state of Kansas."...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200970,00.html
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Editor - 11:16:00 06-26-06
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