President George W. Bush signed the Protect America Act 2007 Sunday, giving the Executive Branch expanded surveillance authority for a period of six months while Congress works on long-term legislation to "modernize" the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) . Bush thanked members of Congress for the bipartisan effort, but urged further cooperation when Congress returns [...]
The military trial of 40 senior members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood resumed in Egypt Sunday despite criticism from Amnesty International regarding the country's failure to allow independent observers into the courtroom. Amnesty also questioned the government's use of a military court to try civilians, saying that "Military courts cannot be seen as independent and [...]
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Sunday that he refuses to accept the resignations submitted by six Cabinet ministers who belong to the country's largest Sunni parliamentary bloc. The Iraqi Accordance Front . The Accordance Front announced last week that it was leaving the government, in a move said to be a response to al-Maliki's [...]
Egypt's Judicial Affairs Minister Mufid Shehab said Saturday that the country will lift its 25-year-old state of emergency by June 2008, according to state news agency Mena. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak promised in 2005 and again 2006 to lift the emergency laws once a new terrorism law was passed. Shehab said, however, that Egypt will [...]
The US House of Representatives voted 227-183 late Saturday in favor of the Protect America Act 2007 , legislation that gives the Executive Branch expanded surveillance authority for a period of six months while Congress works on long-term legislation to "modernize" the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) . The bill was passed by the Senate [...]
A US military jury on Friday convicted Pfc. Jesse Spielman of four counts of felony murder, rape, conspiracy to commit rape, and housebreaking with intent to commit rape for his role in the March 2006 rape and murder of a 14-year old Iraqi girl and the murder of her family in Mahmudiya (also "Mahmoudiya"). Spielman, [...]
The US Senate on Friday passed the Protect America Act 2007 , under which the Executive Branch would be given expanded surveillance authority for a period of six months while Congress worked on long-term legislation to "modernize" the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) . The bill establishes legal guidelines of how the United States can [...]
US President George W. Bush signed an anti-terror bill Friday that implements recommendations by the 9/11 commission . The measure will transfer funds to states and cities found to be at high risk for terrorist attacks and also includes a provision to screen all air and sea cargo coming into the US within five years. [...]
A military jury in Camp Pendleton, California, Friday sentenced US Marine Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins, III to 15 years in prison for his role in the April 2006 kidnapping and murder of Iraqi civilian Hashim Ibrahim Awad in Hamdania . Hutchins was convicted Thursday of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, making a false official statement, [...]
Pojamarn Shinwatra, wife of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinwatra , filed a lawsuit Friday at the Bangkok Civil Court against the Assets Examination Committee (AEC) , alleging that the AEC's seizure of $86 million of her assets was arbitrary and unfair. The AEC has seized approximately $2.1 billion in family assets belonging to Thaksin [...]
