US Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos, a hospital corpsman, pleaded guilty Friday to kidnapping and conspiracy charges in connection to the April 26 death of Iraqi civilian Hashim Ibrahim Awad in Hamdania. A total of eight US military personnel were initially charged in the incident, in which they are said to have [...]
As the National Hockey League opened its 2006-2007 season this week, the lockout that wiped out the entire 04-05 slate has reared its head again in the form of a lawsuit filed against the players' union by players themselves. The suit, filed in US District Court on Monday, alleges improprieties by union leadership in the [...]
New Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared before parliament Friday that Japanese leaders during World War II were not war criminals. Abe, who took office late last month , had said a day earlier that Japanese leaders were responsible for the deaths of many people within the country and elsewhere in Asia during the war, [...]
US and European diplomats have reached an interim agreement on new trans-Atlantic airline passenger data-sharing policies . Under the new regulations, airlines must continue to share 34 pieces of passenger data, including passenger names, addresses and credit card information within 15 minutes of a plane's departure to the US. A number of US counter-terrorism agencies [...]
The lawyer for Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks is pushing the Australian government to ask the US for Hicks' return by Christmas, allowing him to be kept under a control order authorized by last year's anti-terror legislation . David McLeod, Hicks' lawyer in Adelaide, emphasized that Hicks has already served five years in a [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has granted an emergency injunction suspending the application of Arizona's controversial voter ID law a month before the November 7 general election. The law, which Arizonans approved in 2004 as Proposition 200 , requires voters to show a government-issued ID at the polls. Last month, a [...]
Ramsey Clark , former US Attorney General and a member of the Saddam Hussein defense team, predicted Thursday that the execution of the former Iraqi dictator would lead to "catastrophic violence" and "total, unmitigated chaos." During a press conference, Clark theorized that Sunni Muslims in Iraq would view an execution as revenge taken by the [...]
Former Hewlett-Packard chairwoman Patricia Dunn and former ethics officer Kevin Hunsaker surrendered to authorities Thursday and agreed to face felony charges stemming from their roles in the corporate spying scandal . After a brief hearing, Dunn was released on her own recognizance. She will return to court for a November 17 arraignment. Hunsaker's arraignment date [...]
The US House Ethics Committee Thursday opened its investigation into allegations of misconduct related to the House Page program , issuing nearly four dozen subpoenas for witnesses and documents, according to statements issued by the Committee leadership. A special bipartisan subcommittee, set up under HR 1065 , is being led by Doc Hastings (R-WA) , [...]
California’s First District State Court of Appeal upheld a state ban on gay marriage Thursday. In a 2-1 decision , the court held that the ban was not unconstitutional because it did not violate any "vested fundamental right" of gays and lesbians. The move overturns a March 2005 ruling by San Francisco Superior Court Judge [...]
