The Thai government said Friday that it has lifted a five-month ban on the popular video-sharing website YouTube , now owned by Google , after YouTube's site operator agreed to prohibit offensive videos from appearing on the site. Thailand banned access to YouTube and several other websites in April that contained material deemed offensive to [...]
US forces in Iraq will release 50 Iraqi detainees per day during the Muslim religious month of Ramadan, according to an announcement by Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi Friday. The US military confirmed Hashemi's announcement, saying the military has reached a deal with the vice president to begin releasing detainees . Ramadan begins the second [...]
A judge sitting in Polk County , Iowa Thursday struck down Iowa's same-sex marriage ban as an unconstitutional violation of due process and equal protection. Judge Robert Hanson ordered officials to process marriage license applications for same-sex couples despite an announcement by county attorney John Sarcone that the county will appeal Hanson's ruling directly to [...]
The number of executions worldwide increased slightly in 2006 while the number of countries that employ capital punishment decreased, according to a report released Thursday by the Rome-based anti-death penalty group Hands Off Cain . According to statistics compiled from news reports and NGOs, there were 5628 executions in 27 countries in 2006, up from [...]
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other senior administration officials should be exempt from testifying about whether they shared classified national defense information with two American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobbyists, lawyers argued at a closed-door court session Thursday. Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, indicted in 2005 under the 1917 Espionage Act for [...]
A preliminary hearing began Thursday at Camp Pendleton , California, in proceedings against US Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich , commander of the platoon implicated in the killing and suspected cover-up of the death of 24 Iraqi civilians at Haditha in November 2005. Wuterich faces several counts of unpremeditated murder, as well as charges of [...]
The United States should not deport foreign detainees back to their home countries if there is reason to believe they will face torture , American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawyers argued Thursday. Appearing before the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, lawyers representing Sameh Khouzam , an Egyptian Christian who fled to [...]
Giovanni Di Stefano : "The case of Al Majid can be summarized by the following phrase that he uttered in my presence to the Iraqi High Tribunal Judge when sentenced to death: 'thank God now I can have you judges out of my hair'. The Anfal Trial was and remains a trial contrary to natural [...]
The US Department of Justice has begun an internal inquiry to determine whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales may have perjured himself in testimony before Congress, DOJ Inspector General Glenn A. Fine said Thursday. In a letter dated August 16, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) asked Fine to investigate potentially misleading or dishonest testimony [...]
China's National People's Congress passed a new law Thursday to hold officials legally accountable for providing accurate and timely information on public emergencies. The law also allows the government to revoke the business licenses of media organizations that are found to hurt public safety by publishing false reports of emergencies. The Emergency Response Law uses [...]
