Japan's cabinet Wednesday approved new anti-terror legislation which would grant a one-year extension to a Japanese refueling mission in the Indian Ocean. The bill, which restricts its application to allied ships on anti-terrorism patrols, is a compromise between the leading Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DJP) , which wishes [...]

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The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has increasingly turned its focus to terrorism and immigration offenses since 2000, according to a Washington Post report Wednesday. Statistics from the Executive Office for US Attorneys provided to the Post showed significant decreases in prosecution under the Bush administration of organized crime (down 38 percent), white collar crime [...]

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Anne Weismann : "The White House's recent refusal to provide assurances that it is preserving back-up copies of the millions of missing emails is clearly part of a larger, more concerted effort to hide information from the public. Other examples include the knowing use of RNC non-governmental email accounts by top White House officials to [...]

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An Iranian court sentenced three university students to prison terms ranging from two to three years for insulting Islam and Islamic clerics, the students' lawyer said Tuesday. Officials arrested the students , Majid Tavakoli, Ahmed Ghassaban and Ehsan Mansouri, in May along with five other students on charges of endangering national security and insulting Islam. [...]

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The planned execution of Ali Hassan al-Majid , better known in Western media as "Chemical Ali," has been further delayed while Iraqi lawmakers debate the role of the country's Presidency Council and the scope of the authority of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki , a judicial source said Wednesday. Several members of the council, made [...]

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The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Tuesday revised security procedures relating to headwear , merging procedures involving headwear with the broader category of bulky clothing. The move came less than a week after the TSA and the Sikh Coalition held a "community meeting" in Washington DC to discuss Sikh criticism of security procedures enacted in [...]

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The United States has gained ground as a country protecting press freedom, according to the sixth annual Worldwide Index of Freedom issued Tuesday by Reporters Without Borders (RWB) . RWB listed Eritrea, North Korea, and Turkmenistan at the bottom of the survey, while Iceland and Norway tied for first. The US moved up the list [...]

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Pakistani Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sher Afgan Niazi said Tuesday that martial law may be declared in the country if the Supreme Court of Pakistan rules against President Pervez Musharraf's bid for re-election. Niazi said that his statement should not be regarded as a threat, but rather an indication that the possibility for martial law [...]

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