The trial of David Safavian , former chief of staff at the General Services Administration (GSA) and former White House chief procurement officer, begins Wednesday. Safavian is charged with making false statements to Senate and GSA officials in an investigation into to Safavian's relationship with former Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff during a 2002 golf trip [...]
Authorities in five countries have arrested 565 people as part of Operation Global Con , the US Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission announced Tuesday. Officials said the suspects received more than $1 billion from some 2.8 million Americans who thought they were paying to get credit cards, claim sweepstakes winnings, make investments or avoid [...]
Tariq Aziz , the former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister under Saddam Hussein's regime, testified on behalf of Hussein Wednesday at the Iraqi High Criminal Court , where Hussein and seven co-defendants are on trial for the crackdown against Shiites in Dujail following an assassination attempt in 1982, including the execution of 148 villagers. Aziz was [...]
In a newly released five minute audio tape found on an Islamist website Tuesday, a man claiming to be Osama bin Laden said that convicted September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui was not intended to be one of September 11 hijackers as he had not finished his flying training, and that "his confession that he was [...]
Former French president and author of the beleaguered European Constitution , Valery Giscard d'Estaing is calling for the EU constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005 to be put to new referendums. Citing domestic political issues as the culprit in derailing the ratification of the regional charter, especially in France , he suggested [...]
Report 2006, Amnesty International, May 23, 2006 . Excerpt: The…"war on terror" is failing and will continue to fail until human rights….are given precedence over narrow national security interests… Doublespeak and double standards by powerful governments are dangerous because they weaken the ability of the international community to address human rights problems. Read the full [...]
Studs Terkel et al. v. AT&T Inc. . Read the complaint . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
The Israeli Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that construction on a section of the West Bank separation barrier is legal and may continue. Rejecting a petition by Palestinian settlers who will be unable to access Jerusalem once construction is complete, the court said the Israeli government properly balanced the effect of the barrier on Palestinians [...]
US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin Martin has written a letter to US Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) saying that the watchdog agency will not investigate the collection of millions of phone records by the National Security Agency (NSA) . In the letter, dated Monday, Martin contends that the FCC cannot perform an effective investigation [...]
The US Senate Intelligence Committee voted 12-3 Tuesday to approve the nomination of US Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) . Despite the recent controversy over Hayden’s role in the collection and turnover of US citizens’ phone records to the National Security Agency (NSA) , Hayden easily [...]
