Former US Attorney General John Ashcroft said in a Monday New York Times op-ed that he supports granting retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that complied with government requests for phone records following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Ashcroft's comments come as the Senate Judiciary Committee is considering the FISA Amendments Act of 2007 , [...]

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Pakistani security services pressed ahead with arrests of leading lawyers across Pakistan Monday as the government sought to suppress dissent against Saturday's declaration of emergency rule by President Pervez Musharraf. In addition to hundreds arrested after riot police clashed with lawyers at the Lahore High Court , at least 25 lawyers in Karachi – including [...]

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Parliamentary elections in Pakistan will be held in mid-January as scheduled, despite Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's weekend proclamation of emergency rule , Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Monday. Aziz's comments came amid fears that the elections would be postponed because of the imposition of emergency rule and ensuing demonstrations by Pakistani lawyers throughout the [...]

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Eleven more detainees have been transferred from Guantanamo Bay , the US Defense Department said Sunday. According to the DOD announcement, eight detainees were transferred to Afghanistan and three were transferred to Jordan. The names of the eleven men were not released. In October, another six detainees were transferred to Afghanistan . With the transfer, [...]

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Italian opposition leader and former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Sunday urged Italy to ban Romanian workers from entering Italy, while conservative ally Gianfranco Fini suggested that Italy should expel 20,000 Romanian workers in response to a wave of violent crimes blamed on foreigners. Romanian workers have been detained in several recent crimes, and statisticians [...]

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Amidst discussions among members of the Bush administration on closing the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay , officials are considering providing detainees expanded court access and transferring them to federal custody in the United States, the New York Times reported Sunday. Under the current approach backed by the White House, military Combatant Status Review Tribunals [...]

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