HavenWorks.com/politics/archive/2005

!Search

A-Z

News by Date

NewsStand

A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z

/ Archive / 2005
Current Politics News

2005 POLITICS HISTORY ARCHIVE POLITICAL

POLITICS NEWS _POLITICS ARCHIVES _HISTORY _ARCHIVES

`2006 POLITICS ARCHIVE < 2005 POLITICS ARCHIVE > 2004 POLITICS ARCHIVE`

Use "Ctrl F" [control F] to FIND what you're looking for.
"Right Click" - "Open in New Window." to avoid reloading this page.

2005 Politics News History Archive

20051231

US - International - Iraq - Secret - GOV - Terrorism - Intelligence - Telecommunications - E-Mail - Privacy - Politics - Media - Enforcement - "US investigates leak of spy program: Prosecutors focus on disclosure to New York Times." ... "The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into recent disclosures about a controversial domestic eavesdropping program that was secretly authorized by President Bush after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, officials said yesterday." ... "Justice Department prosecutors will focus on whether classified information about the program was unlawfully disclosed to The New York Times, which reported two weeks ago that Bush had authorized the National Security Agency to monitor the international telephone calls and e-mails of people in the United States without court-approved warrants, officials said." ... "The case is the latest in a series of clashes between the media and the Bush administration, which has aggressively enforced restrictions on classified information and has frequently complained about media disclosures related to terrorism or the war in Iraq." -By Dan Eggen -WashingtonPost via -BostonGlobe

20051230

Secret - Government - Intelligence - Civil Liberties - Privacy - Politics - Media - "Justice Dept. Opens Inquiry Into Leak of Domestic Spying." ... "The Justice Department said today that it had opened a criminal investigation into the disclosure of classified information about a secret National Security Agency program under which President Bush authorized eavesdropping on people in the United States without a court warrant." ... "The investigation apparently began in recent days following a formal referral from the agency regarding the leak, federal officials said on condition of anonymity." ... "The program, whose existence was revealed in an article in The New York Times on Dec. 16, has provoked sharp criticism from civil liberties groups, some members of Congress and some former intelligence officials who believe it circumvents the law governing national security eavesdropping." -By Scott Shane -NYTimes
Pakistan - Religious - Schools - Politics - Terrorism - London bombings - UK - "Pakistan's Islamic schools resist expulsion order: · Ban on foreign students followed London bombs · Leaders claim Musharraf ruling is discriminatory." ... "Leaders of Pakistan's 13,000 madrasas have vowed to defy a government deadline to expel foreign students by December 31, saying the regulations discriminate against religious schools." ... "President Pervez Musharraf required Pakistan's madrasas to expel about 1,800 foreign students after the July 7 bombings in London highlighted the extremist links of some schools. Three of the London bombers were of Pakistani descent, and the Aldgate bomber, Shehzad Tanweer, attended a Lahore madrasa that has since been linked to Islamist militants." -By Imtiaz Gul -Guardian.co.uk
Egypt - Sudan - UN - Politics - "10 dead in Cairo protest camp clearance." ... "Ten Sudanese refugees, including a young girl, were killed today when Egyptian police fired water cannon and beat migrants with clubs to break up a protest camp in Cairo." ... "Up to 2,000 refugees had lived in the camp for three months, demanding that the UN refugee agency resettle them." ... "The sit-in began in September after the UN high commissioner for refugees stopped hearing the cases of Sudanese asylum seekers, a decision which followed the signing in January of a peace accord that ended Sudan's 21-year civil war." -Guardian.co.uk

20051229

Iraq - "Iraqi protests continue in Kirkuk." ... "About 350 Arab and Turkmen demonstrators took to the streets of Kirkuk on Thursday, protesting preliminary results of the Dec. 15 parliamentary election and condemning what they claim are Kurdish attempts to control the city, according to Kirkuk Police Chief Torhan Abdul Rahman." ... "The protest is only the latest of widespread demonstrations across the country, including one on Wednesday in Samarra, north of Baghdad in the Sunni heartland." ... "There has also been uproar among Sunni Arabs, secular Shiites and others over what they say is fraud in the polling process." -Contributed to by Mohammed Tawfeeq -CNN
EU - Global - Russia - US - Military - Politics - "EU sends up 1st of 30 satellites in GPS network." ... "The European Union on Wednesday launched the first satellite in its $4.5 billion Galileo global positioning system, a bid to enhance the world's growing reliance on satellite navigation and to break the U.S. monopoly on networks in space." ... "Many Europeans see political significance in the project too: The world's only civilian-controlled system will give Europe and its partner nations self-sufficiency from the United States, which has warned it could diminish or cut off GPS satellite coverage to countries considered enemies in times of national emergency." ... "The launch comes at a time when Russia is moving forward with a positioning system known as GLONASS. On Sunday it put into orbit three new satellites for the network, which is scheduled to be operational in 2010." -By Molly Moore-WashingtonPost via -ChicagoTribune
People - Government - Military - Terrorism - Civil Liberties - Politics - Illinois - Florida - Virginia - "U.S. Defends Conduct in Padilla Case: Supreme Court Asked To Overrule 4th Circuit." ... "A federal appeals court infringed on President Bush's authority to run the war on terror when it refused to let prosecutors take custody of "enemy combatant" Jose Padilla, the Justice Department said yesterday, as it urged the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene." ... "The sharply worded Justice Department filing was the latest salvo in an increasingly contentious battle over Padilla, a U.S. citizen arrested in Chicago [Illinois] in 2002 and initially accused of plotting to detonate a radiological "dirty bomb." Padilla was held for more than three years by the military before he was indicted last month in Miami [Florida] on separate criminal terrorism charges." ... "The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit refused last week to allow prosecutors to take custody of Padilla from the military and rebuked the Bush administration for its handling of the high-profile case. The Bush administration took strong issue yesterday with the Richmond-based [Virginia] court's decision and appealed it to the Supreme Court." -By Jerry Markon-WashingtonPost
Russia - Political - Business - "Russia threatens to cut off Ukraine's gas." ... "Ukraine's natural gas company declared Thursday that it has enough gas in storage to see the country through the winter if Russia halts shipments in a standoff over prices." ... "Russia's state-run natural gas monopoly, Gazprom, which provides about a third of the gas used in Ukraine, says it will stop selling gas to the country on Jan. 1 unless it agrees to a fourfold price increase." ... "Ukraine currently pays $50 (U.S.) per 1,000 cubic meters of gas. Gazprom is demanding that the price in 2006 rise to $220 to $230, saying that is more in line with world markets." -By Henry Meyer -AP via -GlobeAndMail

20051228

Terrorism - Business - Politics - "Sept. 11 loan recipients weren't hurt by attacks." ... "Most companies interviewed about the government-backed Sept. 11 loans they received have told investigators they weren't hurt by the suicide attacks and didn't know they were getting terrorism assistance, an internal government investigation found." ... "The Small Business Administration's inspector general also reported Wednesday that lenders who doled out billions of dollars in such loans failed — 85% of the time — to document that recipients were actually hurt by the terrorism attacks and therefore eligible for the federal aid." -AP via -USATODAY
Massachusetts - Computer - "Massachusetts CIO quits amid OpenDocument furore." ... "The man responsible for bringing OpenDocument to Massachusetts has resigned following controversy and personal attacks over the initiative." ... "Peter Quinn has resigned from his post as chief information officer for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to avoid further mudslinging over the state's controversial move to OpenDocument." -By Ingrid Marson -ZDNet.co.uk

20051227

Government - Military - Psychology - Health - "A Political Debate On Stress Disorder: As Claims Rise, VA Takes Stock." ... "The spiraling cost of post-traumatic stress disorder among war veterans has triggered a politically charged debate and ignited fears that the government is trying to limit expensive benefits for emotionally scarred troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan." ... "A total of 215,871 veterans received PTSD benefit payments last year at a cost of $4.3 billion, up from $1.7 billion in 1999 -- a jump of more than 150 percent." ... "Experts say the sharp increase does not begin to factor in the potential impact of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, because the increase is largely the result of Vietnam War vets seeking treatment decades after their combat experiences." (1, 2) -By Shankar Vedantam -WashingtonPost
Japan - Business - Employment - Politics - "Japan backs gender equality plan." ... "Japanese Prime Minister Junichuro Koizumi's cabinet has approved a gender equality plan that aims to put more women in leadership positions." ... "It gave the green light to a series of measures to improve employment conditions for women and encourage their return to work after maternity." ... "The changes, known as the female re-challenge plan, have been pushed through by the prime minister himself." ... "They come in response to Japan's plunging birth rate." -By Leo Lewis-BBC /News
Russia - Economics - "Outspoken Putin aide set to quit: An outspoken aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered his resignation in protest against what he called the end of political freedom." ... "Economic adviser Andrei Illarionov said Russia was no longer politically free but run by state corporations acting in their own interests." ... ""It is one thing to work in a country that is partly free. It is another thing when the political system has changed, and the country has stopped being free and democratic," Mr Illarionov told reporters in Moscow."-BBC /News

20051226

Government - Military - Intelligence - Secret - Prisons - Civil Liberties - Privacy - Law - Media - Politics - "Fear destroys what bin Laden could not." ... "One wonders if Osama bin Laden didn't win after all. He ruined the America that existed on 9/11. But he had help." ... "If, back in 2001, anyone had told me that four years after bin Laden's attack our president would admit that he broke U.S. law against domestic spying and ignored the Constitution -- and then expect the American people to congratulate him for it -- I would have presumed the girders of our very Republic had crumbled." ... "Had anyone said our president would invade a country and kill 30,000 of its people claiming a threat that never, in fact, existed, then admit he would have invaded even if he had known there was no threat -- and expect America to be pleased by this -- I would have thought our nation's sensibilities and honor had been eviscerated." ... "If I had been informed that our nation's leaders would embrace torture as a legitimate tool of warfare, hold prisoners for years without charges and operate secret prisons overseas -- and call such procedures necessary for the nation's security -- I would have laughed at the folly of protecting human rights by destroying them." ... "If someone had predicted the president's staff would out a CIA agent as revenge against a critic, defy a law against domestic propaganda by bankrolling supposedly independent journalists and commentators, and ridicule a 37-year Marie Corps veteran for questioning U.S. military policy -- and that the populace would be more interested in whether Angelina is about to make Brad a daddy -- I would have called the prediction an absurd fantasy." -By Robert Steinback -Miami/Herald
US - Iran - Nuclear - Military - Politics - Bill Frist - "Reining in Iran." ... ""Iran's ruling mullahs have waged a 26-year campaign to suppress dissent, support terror and pursue a nuclear weapons program. In recent weeks, it has become clear that international efforts to stop Iran's atomic program have failed to bear fruit. Unless we act quickly, the United States will have a nuclear crisis on its hands." ... "If we let Tehran develop nuclear weapons covertly while IAEA negotiations slog forward, Iran's theocrats will have little reason to negotiate with anyone. The U.S. needs to act before a regime that has denied the real Holocaust unleashes another. " -By Bill Frist -LAtimes
Iraq - Terrorism - Police - Politics - "Gunmen kill Iraqi forces, bombs shake Baghdad." ... "Guerrillas killed 10 Iraqi policemen and soldiers in attacks north of Baghdad on Monday, while the capital itself was rocked by five major explosions that left at least eight dead." ... "It was one of the bloodiest days in Iraq since the largely peaceful election on December 15, when rival ethnic and sectarian groups took part in a vote for a new parliament. By nightfall, at least 20 were killed and over 40 injured." -By Deepa Babington with contributions by Faris al-Mehdawi in Baquba, Aseel Kami and Gideon Long -Reuters.co.uk
Iraq - Politics - "Iraq Contingent May Grow if Attacks Persist, Pace Says." ... "Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Peter Pace said Sunday that the number of U.S. troops in Iraq could increase next year, not decrease, if the insurgency continued." ... "The four-star Marine general said that any decision to withdraw or deploy additional troops in Iraq would depend mostly on whether the insurgency continued to launch deadly attacks against U.S.-led forces and friendly elements of the fledgling Baghdad government." -By Josh Meyer -LAtimes

20051225

Iran - Germany - France - Tourist - Waters - "Iran detains German and French tourists." ... "Iran said Sunday it is holding a German man and a Frenchman whose boat strayed into its territorial waters while they were on a sailing vacation last month." ... "The Rheinpfalz newspaper reported that the 52-year-old German had been on vacation with his wife and a French friend in the United Arab Emirates. The two men were arrested on Nov. 29 during a fishing trip in the Straits of Hormuz, apparently after straying into Iranian waters, it said." -AP via -SeattlePI.NWsource

20051224

Government- Terrorism - Law Enforcement - Law - Telecommunications - Business - Internet - Privacy - Politics- "Spy Agency Mined Vast Data Trove, Officials Report." ... "The National Security Agency has traced and analyzed large volumes of telephone and Internet communications flowing into and out of the United States as part of the eavesdropping program that President Bush approved after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to hunt for evidence of terrorist activity, according to current and former government officials." ... "The volume of information harvested from telecommunication data and voice networks, without court-approved warrants, is much larger than the White House has acknowledged, the officials said. It was collected by tapping directly into some of the American telecommunication system's main arteries, they said." ... "As part of the program approved by President Bush for domestic surveillance without warrants, the N.S.A. has gained the cooperation of American telecommunications companies to obtain backdoor access to streams of domestic and international communications, the officials said." ... "The government's collection and analysis of phone and Internet traffic have raised questions among some law enforcement and judicial officials familiar with the program." -By Eric Lichtblau and James Risen (1, 2) -NYTimes
US - Egypt - Law - "U.S. Protests Jailing of Egyptian Opposition Leader (Update2)." ... "The U.S. government protested the conviction of Egyptian opposition politician Ayman Nour on forgery charges and requested he be released from jail." ... "Nour's conviction ``calls into question Egypt's commitment to democracy, freedom and the rule of law,'' White House press secretary Scott McClellan said in a statement. The U.S. calls on Egypt ``to release Mr. Nour from detention.''" -By Carlos Torres -Bloomberg

20051223

Jerry Lewis - Randy "Duke" Cunningham - Government - Military - Money - Law - Politics - California - "Close ties make Rep. Lewis, lobbyist Lowery a potent pair." ... "From powerful positions on the House Appropriations Committee, California [Republican Representative] Rep. Jerry Lewis has greenlighted hundreds of millions of dollars in federal projects for clients of one of his closest friends, lobbyist and former [Republican Represenatative from California] state Congressman Bill Lowery." ... "Meanwhile, Lowery, the partners at his firm [Copeland Lowery Jacquez Denton & White] and their clients have donated 37 percent of the $1.3 million that Lewis' political action committee received in the past six years." ... "One of the defense companies that received federal contracts with [convicted California Republican Representative Randy "Duke"] Cunningham's support was a Lowery client [Brent Wilkes' ADCS Inc.]. And some of the money was disbursed when Cunningham was a member of the defense appropriations subcommittee and Lewis was the committee chairman." ... "Lowery, his partners and their spouses have contributed $135,000 to Lewis' campaigns and political action committee over the past decade, routinely giving the maximum allowed by law. Lowery also organizes and hosts Lewis fundraisers. And many of Lowery's defense-contractor clients contribute to Lewis as part of their lobbying strategy." ... "Taken together, they have contributed $480,000 to Lewis' political action committee since 2000." ... "Last year Lewis used some of that money to wow the Republican leadership with checks for $650,000 in "excess campaign funds" to help maintain Republican control of the House." ... "In 1999 Lewis became chairman of the defense appropriations subcommittee, which oversees more discretionary spending than any other congressional body." ... "Despite that early demonstration of fiscal toughness, earmarks in the defense bills exploded on Lewis' watch." ... "Many of the earmarks went to clients of Lowery's firm, which grew even more prosperous when Lewis' principal defense-earmarks gatekeeper, Letitia White, joined the firm in 2003." -By Jerry Kammer with contributions by Denise Davidson, Erin Hobbs and Peter Uribe -CopleyNews.com via -SignOnSanDiego.com
Secret - Government - Terrorism - Intelligence - Law - Privacy - History - Samuel Alito - "In 1984 memo, Alito defends domestic wiretaps." ... "As a Reagan administration lawyer, Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito argued that federal officials can't be sued for damages for wiretapping Americans without warrants in national security cases, a document released Friday showed." ... "Alito's position may complicate his prospects for confirmation because its disclosure comes amid an uproar over a four-year-old Bush administration counterterrorism operation that's been eavesdropping on Americans without court approval." ... "President Bush's argument that he has the legal and constitutional authority to direct the National Security Agency to conduct the secret domestic surveillance operation is almost certain to end up before the Supreme Court." -By Jonathan S. Landay -Knight Ridder via -MercuryNews
Samuel Alito - Women's - Abortion - Health - History - Law - "Alito abortion memo drew cautionary response: Reagan administration official said '85 correspondence should be kept quiet." ... "A June 1985 memo by Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito arguing that the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion should be overturned set off alarms in the Reagan administration, prompting a senior official to caution that the correspondence should be kept quiet, a new document released Friday shows." ... "In a recommendation to the solicitor general on filing a friend-of-court brief, Alito said the government "should make clear that we disagree with Roe v. Wade and would welcome the opportunity to brief the issue of whether, and if so to what extent, that decision should be overruled."" ... "The June 3, 1985 document was one of 45 released by the National Archives on Friday. A total of 744 pages were made public." -AP via -MSNBC
Samuel Alito - Women's - Abortion - Health - History - Law - "Alito Argued to Overturn Roe in 1985 Memo: Supreme Court Nominee Samuel Alito Advocated Reversing Roe V. Wade in 1985 Memo." ... "In paperwork released earlier from Alito's time in the Justice Department's solicitor general's office, he recommended a legal strategy of dismantling abortion rights piece by piece. And as part of an application for a job as deputy assistant attorney general, Alito said the Constitution does not guarantee abortion rights." -By Donna Cassata -AP via -ABCNEWS.com
Travel- Terrorism - Law Enforcement - "Airport security changes create little noise: Guidelines that now allow small scissors, sharp objects have little effect on travelers." ... "New airport security guidelines that allow passengers to carry small scissors and other sharp objects were implemented Thursday at airports nationwide, including Houston." ... "Security personnel will now focus on detecting explosives rather than confiscating small sharp objects." -By Armando Villafranca -HoustonChronicle.com
Palestine - Israel - Religion - Christmas - "Isolated Bethlehem struggles for its survival." ... "In a street below the Church of the Nativity this week, three Palestinians were wrestling with a gigantic blow-up Santa Claus as they attempted to add a touch of seasonal cheer to a town that feels itself increasingly cut off from the outside world." ... "Since Christmas 2004, Israel has completed an eight-metre high concrete separation barrier between Bethlehem and neighbouring Jerusalem and recently opened a $7.5m crossing point that resembles an international frontier." ... "Most residents of Bethlehem, which is just inside the West Bank, are no longer allowed to travel to Jerusalem, although the army is making an exception this Christmas for Christian Palestinians wishing to visit relatives in Israel." -By Harvey Morris -FT.com
Government - Military - Terrorism - Civil Liberties - Politics- Florida - "Terror case challenges White House strategy: An appeals court refused the government's request to have Jose Padilla transferred to Florida for a criminal trial." ... "Suddenly, terror suspect Jose Padilla seems a lot more dangerous to the Bush administration." ... "It has nothing to do with his suspected involvement in Al Qaeda bomb plots, analysts say. Rather, the administration worries that the US Supreme Court might agree to hear Mr. Padilla's case and decide one of the most pressing constitutional issues in the war on terrorism. And by all appearances, government lawyers think they might lose." ... "The issue: Does President Bush have the power as commander in chief to order the open-ended military detention of US citizens that he deems enemy combatants?" -By Warren Richey -CSMonitor

20051222

Jack Abramoff - Florida - Political - Business - "Talk of Plea by Lobbyist Has Hill on Edge." ... "[Jack] Abramoff, a once-powerful lobbyist who is the subject of a federal influence-peddling investigation, is considering a deal to plead guilty and cooperate with prosecutors, according to sources familiar with the probe. That could open the prospect that Abramoff will implicate any number of lawmakers and aides who were part of his vast network of access." ... "Abramoff's former business associate, Michael P.S. Scanlon, last month pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe public officials and to defraud tribes. He promised to cooperate with the investigation." ... "In separate federal proceedings in Florida, Abramoff has been indicted on fraud and conspiracy charges in connection with his purchase of the Florida-based SunCruz Casinos gambling fleet. His co-defendant, Adam R. Kidan, last week pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Abramoff. Abramoff's trial is set to begin Jan. 9." -By Janet Hook and Chuck Neubauer -LAtimes
Government - Law - Military - Terrorism - Alaska - Oil - Environment - Health - Education - Jobs - Money - "Senate Extends Patriot Act, Kills Alaska Drilling (Update1)." ... "The U.S. Senate broke a legislative logjam and cleared the way for its holiday departure last night with a series of short-term compromises that extended the Patriot Act and blocked drilling for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge." ... "Democrats prevailed in getting Senate Republican leaders to abandon the oil-drilling plan, which was attached to the defense budget." ... "[House] Lawmakers passed a $142.5 billion budget for health, education and jobs programs that cuts funding from last year's spending plan, sending the measure to Bush for his signature. The House approved the measure 215-213 on Dec. 14." ... "The health budget reduces funding for the No Child Left Behind education initiative, special education and job training. It freezes funding for the National Institutes of Health and low- income heating assistance." -By Catherine Dodge -Bloomberg
Secret - Government - Terrorism - Intelligence - Telecommunications - EMail - Privacy - Politics - "Judges on Surveillance Court To Be Briefed on Spy Program." ... "The presiding judge of a secret court that oversees government surveillance in espionage and terrorism cases is arranging a classified briefing for her fellow judges to address their concerns about the legality of President Bush's domestic spying program, according to several intelligence and government sources." ... "Several members of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court said in interviews that they want to know why the administration believed secretly listening in on telephone calls and reading e-mails of U.S. citizens without court authorization was legal. Some of the judges said they are particularly concerned that information gleaned from the president's eavesdropping program may have been improperly used to gain authorized wiretaps from their court." (1, 2) -By Carol D. Leonnig and Dafna Linzer with contributions by Julie Tate -WashingtonPost
Karl Rove - Dick Cheney - Military - Environmental - Political - Business - "Department's Mission Was Undermined From Start." ... "[Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom] Ridge, who had won a Bronze Star as an infantry staff sergeant in Vietnam, knew he might be stepping into another quagmire at DHS. "Part of him was excited," said then-EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] Administrator Christine Todd Whitman. "Part of him thought it was a no-win situation."" ... "Clearly, he could not count on unlimited financial support. And working in the White House, he was already learning he could not count on absolute political support, either." ... "One stark example was the White House's blockade of a Ridge-supported plan to secure large chemical plants. After Sept. 11, Whitman had worked with Ridge on a modest effort to require high-risk plants --especially the 123 factories where a toxic release could endanger at least 1 million people -- to enhance security. But industry groups warned Bush political adviser Karl Rove that giving new regulatory power to the Environmental Protection Agency would be a disaster." ... ""We have a similar set of concerns," Rove wrote to the president of BP Amoco Chemical Co." ... "In an interagency meeting shortly before DHS's birth, White House budget official Philip J. Perry, who also happens to be Cheney's son-in-law, declared the Ridge-Whitman plan dead." (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) -By Christopher Lee with contributions by Spencer S. Hsu and Julie Tate -WashingtonPost
Iraq - "Objections to Iraq vote grow louder: Sunnis, secularists join forces in call." ... "Sunni Arab and secular political groups joined forces yesterday to decide whether to call for a repeat of parliamentary elections that gave the Shi'ite religious bloc a larger than expected lead." ... "The main Sunni coalition has said the elections were tainted by fraud, including voting centers failing to open, shortages in election materials, reports of multiple voting, and forgery." ... "The election commission, known as the IECI, has said it received 1,250 complaints about violations during the Dec. 15 elections, 25 of which it described as serious. But the commission says it does not expect the complaints will change the overall result, to be announced in January." -By Patrick Quinn -AP via -BostonGlobe
Pennsylvania - Religious - Science - Law - Kansas - "Advocates of 'Intelligent Design' Vow to Continue Despite Ruling." ... "A federal judge's ruling in Pennsylvania that "intelligent design" is religious fundamentalism dressed in the raiment of science has wounded a politically influential movement." ... "Some politically influential backers of intelligent design warned that U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III, who was appointed by President Bush, so overreached that his ruling will outrage and inflame millions of conservative and religiously observant Americans." ... "Jones's expansively written decision incorporated the scientific critique of intelligent design as pseudoscience in almost every detail. Legally, that decision is not binding in other states, such as Kansas, where the state school board is debating incorporating a critique of Darwinian evolution into its state standards." -By Michael Powell -WashingtonPost
Government - Military - Terrorism - Civil Liberties - Politics - Florida - "Court Bars Transfer of Padilla To Face New Terrorism Charges." ... "A federal appeals court yesterday refused to authorize the transfer of "enemy combatant" Jose Padilla to face new criminal charges, issuing a strongly worded opinion rebuking the Bush administration and its handling of the high-profile terrorism case." ... "In issuing its denial, the court cited the government's changing rationale for Padilla's detention, questioning why it used one set of arguments before federal judges deciding whether it was legal for the military to hold Padilla and another set before the Miami [Florida] grand jury." ... "In requesting the transfer to Justice Department custody, the government suggested that the 4th Circuit vacate its ruling allowing Padilla to be held as an enemy combatant. But the 4th Circuit yesterday also refused to lift the earlier decision and suggested that the Justice Department request was made to avoid further judicial scrutiny." ... "The judges said prosecutors had left "an appearance that the government may be attempting to avoid consideration of our decision by the Supreme Court." They said they welcomed Supreme Court intervention because of the "enormous implications" of the Padilla case." -By Jerry Markon -WashingtonPost

20051221

Government - Political - Intelligence - Privacy - Law - History - "Limits to power: Restrictions on domestic spying were put in place for a reason." ... "It's an old argument. Back during the Vietnam War, government photographers went to the anti-war demonstrations and took pictures of the demonstrators. Protest leaders thought, probably correctly, that their phones were tapped. Even I, a reporter covering the protests, heard some odd clicking noises when I picked up the phone to make some calls. And, of course, FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover, who made his own laws, eavesdropped on Martin Luther King Jr., among others, though we didn't know it at the time." ... "Outside the law? John Mitchell, who was President Richard Nixon's Attorney General, argued that the government didn't need a warrant to tap the phone of any political dissenter it thought was a threat to national security, which certainly does sound like the secret police at work. But in 1972, the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that Mitchell was wrong. Justice Lewis Powell, a Nixon appointee, wrote for the unanimous court that the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution protects Americans from "unreasonable searches and seizures" and that that freedom "cannot be properly guaranteed if domestic security surveillances are conducted solely at the discretion of the executive branch."" ... "President Bush obviously thinks the court was wrong, since he ordered the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2002 to begin eavesdropping on American citizens without a court-issued warrant." -By Bruce Morton -CNN
Iran - Secret - Nuclear - Military - Politics - EU - US - UN - "The West's patience wears thin with Iran's hard line." ... "When European nations resume talks with Iran in Vienna Wednesday over that country's nuclear ambitions, two dangerous new factors are in play. On the one hand, the patience of the Europeans and the United States with Iran is running thin. On the other hand, Iran's newly elected president has shocked a string of nations with some megalomanic pronouncements that if supported by his people would plunge Iran back into isolation. The stage is not set for compromise and consensus." ... "At issue is whether Iran's suspected pursuit of nuclear technology for military purposes is purely for peaceful purposes, as it claims. The European nations and the US doubt that, pointing to a string of deceptive Iranian actions, including hiding from the International Atomic Energy Agency its secret installations to enrich uranium and produce plutonium." -By John Hughes -CSMonitor
Dick Cheney - Seniors - Health - Education - "Senate passes budget cuts: Cheney passes tiebreaking vote." ... "The Senate Friday morning passed a $40 billion deficit reduction bill, but only after Vice President Cheney cast the tie-breaking vote." ... "Opponents and supporters of the measure in the Senate were deadlocked 50-50 on the bill, until Cheney cast the deciding vote." ... "For the first time in eight years, the spending measure cuts funding for several entitlement programs." ... "Programs affected include Medicaid and Medicare, and funding for student loans." -By Greg Robb -MarketWatch

20051220

Government - Military- Intelligence - Total Information Awareness - Secrecy - Consumer - Telecommunications -Databases - Privacy - Law -West-Virginia - Dick Cheney - Terrorism - "Bush, Democrats swap charges over his approval of wiretaps." ... "The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, released a letter he wrote to Vice President Dick Cheney on July 17, 2003, the day he learned of the surveillance in a meeting with Cheney, three other lawmakers and the heads of the CIA and NSA. Rockefeller expressed deep misgivings and said the program reminded him of Total Information Awareness, a controversial Pentagon effort to mine credit-card data, cellphone calls and even bank withdrawals to spot terrorist activity." ... ""These concerns were never addressed, and I was prohibited from sharing my views with my colleagues" by secrecy laws, Rockefeller said Monday. He accused the president and his aides of "repeatedly misrepresenting the facts" in recent days and demanded a "full investigation into the legal and operational aspects of the program" now that the program has come to light." -By Todd J. Gillman -DallasNews.com via -SeattleTimes.NWsource
Environment - Animals - Terrorism - Civil Righs - Law - Politics - Indiana - "F.B.I. Watched Activist Groups, New Files Show." ... "Counterterrorism agents at the Federal Bureau of Investigation have conducted numerous surveillance and intelligence-gathering operations that involved, at least indirectly, groups active in causes as diverse as the environment, animal cruelty and poverty relief, newly disclosed agency records show." ... "But the documents, coming after the Bush administration's confirmation that President Bush had authorized some spying without warrants in fighting terrorism, prompted charges from civil rights advocates that the government had improperly blurred the line between terrorism and acts of civil disobedience and lawful protest." ... "One F.B.I. document indicates that agents in Indianapolis [Indiana] planned to conduct surveillance as part of a "Vegan Community Project." Another document talks of the Catholic Workers group's "semi-communistic ideology." A third indicates the bureau's interest in determining the location of a protest over llama fur planned by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals." (1, 2) -By Eric Lichtblau -NYTimes
Government - Telecommunications - EMail - Intelligence - Law - West-Virginia - Cheney, Dick - "Democrats: Briefings weren't approvals for wiretapping." ... "Some Democrats say they never approved a domestic wiretapping program, undermining suggestions by President Bush and his senior advisers that the plan was fully vetted in a series of congressional briefings." ... ""I feel unable to fully evaluate, much less endorse, these activities," West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the Senate Intelligence Committee's top Democrat, said in a handwritten letter to Vice President Dick Cheney in July 2003. "As you know, I am neither a technician nor an attorney."" ... "Rockefeller is among a small group of congressional leaders who have received briefings on the administration's four-year-old program to eavesdrop — without warrants — on international calls and e-mails of Americans and others inside the United States with suspected ties to al-Qaeda." -AP via -USATODAY

20051219

Government - Military - Intelligence- Privacy - Law - Politics - "Bush's Snoopgate: The president was so desperate to kill The New York Times' eavesdropping story, he summoned the paper's editor and publisher to the Oval Office. But it wasn't just out of concern about national security." ... "The problem was not that the disclosures would compromise national security, as Bush claimed at his press conference. His comparison to the damaging pre-9/11 revelation of Osama bin Laden's use of a satellite phone, which caused bin Laden to change tactics, is fallacious; any Americans with ties to Muslim extremists-in fact, all American Muslims, period-have long since suspected that the U.S. government might be listening in to their conversations. Bush claimed that "the fact that we are discussing this program is helping the enemy." But there is simply no evidence, or even reasonable presumption, that this is so. And rather than the leaking being a "shameful act," it was the work of a patriot inside the government who was trying to stop a presidential power grab." ... "No, Bush was desperate to keep the Times from running this important story-which the paper had already inexplicably held for a year-because he knew that it would reveal him as a law-breaker." -By Jonathan Alter -MSNBC/Newsweek
Secret - Government - Terrorism - Intelligence - Civil Liberties - Privacy - Law - "Bush strongly defends eavesdropping program." ... "President Bush on Monday forcefully defended his administration's eavesdropping program for terror suspects living in the United States as an essential element of protecting Americans from a new enemy, and he said whoever unmasked the secret plan had committed a "shameful act."" ... "As Republicans joined Democrats in calling for a congressional inquiry into the domestic spying program, the president insisted he had the legal and constitutional authority to order surveillance. He said he was concerned about citizens' civil liberties but denied suggestions that he had abused the power of the presidency, and he vowed not to abandon the plan he approved after the 2001 terror attacks." ... ""To say `unchecked power' basically is ascribing some kind of dictatorial position to the president, which I strongly reject," Bush said. "I am doing what you expect me to do, and at the same time, safeguarding the civil liberties of the country."" -ChicagoTribune via -MercuryNews
Secret- Intelligence - Telecommunications - EMail - Privacy - Law - "President Bush Defends Secret Wiretaps, Urges Patriot Act Renewal." ... "In his final news conference of the year, President Bush offered a stern defense of his ordering of secret wiretaps within the United States and made a spirited plea for the renewal of the Patriot Act." ... "The president's top priority was to quell the growing outrage over the revelation on Friday by The New York Times of a widespread, ongoing domestic eavesdropping program by the National Security Agency that has targeted phone conversations and e-mail exchanges within the U.S." ... "Though the disclosure of the covert domestic spying program has caused concern among both Democrats and Republicans, with some calling for hearings into whether it violates the Constitution, Bush vigorously defended his right to order the program, which he said he has renewed more than 30 times." -MTV.com /News

20051218

Secret - Government - Terrorism - Intelligence - Privacy - Law - Wisconsin - "Bush, under fire, defends spy program: President says eavesdropping policy is 'vital'." ... "President Bush acknowledged yesterday that he has repeatedly authorized secret eavesdropping within the United States without obtaining warrants, a policy that some critics called illegal. The admission came one day after the president refused to address the issue." ... "Bush yesterday said he reauthorized the program more than 30 times since the Sept. 11 attacks and vowed to continue it despite criticism by some members of both political parties." ... "But Senator Russell Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, urged the president to suspend the program immediately. Feingold said the program violates a law that requires a court order for such surveillance." -By Michael Kranish -Boston/Globe

20051217

Secret - Government - Terrorism - Privacy - Politics - Civil Liberties - Law - "Update 3: Bush Acknowledges Approving Eavesdropping." ... "President Bush said Saturday he has no intention of stopping his personal authorizations of a post-Sept. 11 secret eavesdropping program in the U.S., lashing out at those involved in revealing it while defending it as crucial to preventing future attacks." ... "Angry members of Congress have demanded an explanation of the program, first revealed in Friday's New York Times and whether the monitoring by the National Security Agency without obtaining warrants from a court violates civil liberties." -AP via -Forbes
Intelligence - Politics - "Robert Novak Leaving CNN for Fox News." ... "Robert Novak, the gruff-voiced political pundit and occasional loose cannon in a three-piece suit, is leaving CNN and going to work for Fox News." ... "In the recent past, Novak has been making news more than commenting on it. In a controversial move, he printed the name of CIA agent Valerie Plame in a 2003 newspaper column, which triggered a full-fledged, multilayered investigation into who leaked that information. In August he cursed at fellow analyst James Carville and abandoned the set of a CNN political talk show mid-broadcast. Just recently he suggested to a group in North Carolina that President Bush knows the source of the CIA leak. Asked if these incidents led to his departure, he laughed and said he doesn't think so." -By Linton Weeks-WashingtonPost

20051216

Turkey - Free Speech - Journalism - Law - EU - "Free speech on trial in Turkey: The case of writer Orhan Pamuk is being watched as a test of political reforms." ... "Like one of his own characters, trapped between liberal yearnings and the reality of an unforgiving state, Turkey's most celebrated novelist, Orhan Pamuk, is slated to appear in court Friday to face charges of "insulting Turkish identity."" ... "The high-profile free speech trial pits the aims of European-driven reform in Turkey - which began EU membership talks last October - against a fiercely nationalistic tradition that permits little challenge. Mr. Pamuk's trial is one of more than 65 other free speech cases now under way in Turkey, which are being closely watched by European observers, as a test of the recent reforms." ... ""This is a tug of war in Turkey now, between those who favor democratic and EU values, [against] those who are afraid of such change - the hard-core nationalists who are willing to do anything to stop that trend," says Haluk Sahin, a journalism professor at Bilgi University and columnist for Radikal newspaper, who is also facing trial in February under the same statute." ... ""[Nationalists] have decided that the legal system is the soft underbelly," says Mr. Sahin. "And by using legal instruments and their ties [to the judiciary], they can harm Turkey's prospects in that big march toward the European goal."" -By Scott Peterson -CSMonitor
Secret- Government - Military - Terrorism - EMail - Telecommunications - Law - Politics - History - "Bush Authorized Domestic Spying: Post-9/11 Order Bypassed Special Court." ... "President Bush signed a secret order in 2002 authorizing the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on U.S. citizens and foreign nationals in the United States, despite previous legal prohibitions against such domestic spying, sources with knowledge of the program said last night." ... "For more than four years, the NSA tasked other military intelligence agencies to assist its broad-based surveillance effort directed at people inside the country suspected of having terrorist connections, even before Bush signed the 2002 order that authorized the NSA program, according to an informed U.S. official." ... "The effort, which began within days after the attacks, has consisted partly of monitoring domestic telephone conversations, e-mail and even fax communications of individuals identified by the NSA as having some connection to al Qaeda events or figures, or to potential terrorism-related activities in the United States, the official said." ... "It has also involved teams of Defense Intelligence Agency personnel stationed in major U.S. cities conducting the type of surveillance typically performed by the FBI: monitoring the movements and activities -- through high-tech equipment -- of individuals and vehicles, the official said." -By Dan Eggen with contributions by Dafna Linzer and Peter Baker -WashingtonPost
Secrecy - Politics - "Bush Issues Order to Ease Access to Government Information." ... "President Bush has issued an executive order directing federal agencies to improve public access to government information." ... "The order, signed by the president late Wednesday, follows five years of often bipartisan criticism of his administration on grounds of excessive secrecy, particularly since the 2001 terrorist attacks. It mandates some of the changes that have been proposed by members of Congress from both parties to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act." -By Scott Shane -NYTimes
Government - Terrorism - Law - Civil Liberties - Wisconsin - Idaho - "Senate may decide fate of Patriot Act's expiring provisions." ... "The Senate was still weighing a proposed accord with the House to extend the expiring 16 provisions of the law enacted in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. But that compromise appeared to lack the necessary votes to succeed." ... "The White House and its congressional allies prefer to let the provisions expire and hold Democrats responsible in next year's midterm elections rather than let opponents whittle away at the law." ... "But the critics, who include senators with such wide-ranging views as Democrat Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and Republican Larry Craig of Idaho, say they don't want the Patriot Act to expire — they just want enough time to improve the bill to the point where it doesn't infringe on American liberties." -USATODAY
US - Mexico - US Immigration - Drugs - Law - California - New Mexico - Texas - Arizona - "House Votes for 698 Miles of Fences on Mexico Border." ... "House Republicans voted on Thursday night to toughen a border security bill by requiring the Department of Homeland Security to build five fences along 698 miles of the United States border with Mexico to block the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into this country." ... "The amendment to the bill would require the construction of the fences along stretches of land in California, New Mexico, Texas and Arizona that have been deemed among the most porous corridors of the border." ... "The vote on the amendment was a victory for conservatives who had long sought to build such a fences along the Mexican border. But the vote was sharply assailed by Democrats, who compared the fences to the Berlin Wall in Germany. Twelve Republicans also voted against the amendment." -By Rachel L. Swarns-NYTimes
US - World - Government - Secret - Telecommunications - Intelligence - Privacy - Terrorism - Law - "Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts." ... "Months after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying, according to government officials." ... "Under a presidential order signed in 2002, the intelligence agency has monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States without warrants over the past three years in an effort to track possible "dirty numbers" linked to Al Qaeda, the officials said. The agency, they said, still seeks warrants to monitor entirely domestic communications." ... "The previously undisclosed decision to permit some eavesdropping inside the country without court approval was a major shift in American intelligence-gathering practices, particularly for the National Security Agency, whose mission is to spy on communications abroad. As a result, some officials familiar with the continuing operation have questioned whether the surveillance has stretched, if not crossed, constitutional limits on legal searches." (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) -By James Risen and Eric Lichtblau with contributions by Barclay Walsh -NYTimes

20051215

Richard Pombo - Abramoff - Money - Lawmaker - California - Massachusetts - US - Northern Mariana Islands - "Miller presses Pombo to investigate Abramoff." ... "Rep. George Miller (D-Calif. [Democrat-California]) continues to petition House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo (R-Calif. [Republican-California]) for an investigation into indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s activities on behalf of the Northern Mariana Islands." ... "Resources has sole jurisdiction over the Marianas, whose government hired Abramoff in the late 1990s to lobby Washington on its behalf." ... "Pombo has received more than $35,000 in contributions from Abramoff and Indian tribes he represented, including $27,000 from the Mashpee Wampanoag of Massachusetts, which received federal recognition from a bill Pombo passed through the committee in 2004." -By Elana Schor -HillNews.com
Lebanon - Syria - Political - Intelligence - Terrorism - "UN extends Lebanon murder probe, chastises Syria." ... "The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on Thursday to extend for six months the international probe into the murder of a Lebanese leader and told Syria it was not co-operating fully with investigators." ... "The resolution also authorises the U.N. commission to provide technical assistance to the Beirut government investigating a string of other politically motivated murders or attempted killings in the last year." ... "Detlev Mehlis, the German prosecutor who headed the U.N. inquiry, on Monday released a 25-page report saying new evidence had reinforced his earlier judgement that Syrian intelligence officials and their Lebanese allies, were involved in the killing." -By Evelyn Leopold -Reuters
Government - Military - Terrorism - Intelligence - Prisons - Law - Arizona - "Bush backs down on proposed torture ban." ... "President Bush on Thursday abandoned his opposition to an anti-torture amendment by Sen. John McCain in the face of overwhelming support for the measure in Congress." ... "Bush backed down from a veto threat after being unable to muster support from one-third of either the House or Senate, even though his own Republican Party controls both chambers. The measure by McCain, R-Ariz., is attached to the annual defense spending bill that funds the war on terrorism." ... "The amendment says no one in U.S. government custody, whether prisoner of war or terrorist," shall be subject to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment," regardless of where the prisoner is being held." -By John Diamond with contributions by David Jackson -USATODAY
US - World - Prisons -Florida - Georgia - "House Defies Bush and Backs McCain on Detainee Torture." ... "In an unusual bipartisan rebuke to the Bush administration, the House on Wednesday overwhelmingly endorsed Senator John McCain's measure to bar cruel and inhumane treatment of prisoners in American custody anywhere in the world." ... "Although the vote was nonbinding, it put the Republican-controlled House on record in support of Mr. McCain's provision for the first time, at the very moment when the senator, a Republican, is at a crucial stage of tense negotiations with the White House, which strongly opposes his measure." ... "Representative C. W. Bill Young of Florida, head of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, was one of 121 Republicans who voted against Mr. McCain's language. One Democrat, Jim Marshall of Georgia, voted against it; 200 Democrats and one independent supported it." -By Eric Schmitt -NYTimes
US - Iraq - Military - Intelligence - "Bush Admits Mistakes but Defends War: He accepts responsibility for acting on flawed intelligence but says the invasion was justified. Aides hope his candor will boost his ratings." ... "President Bush said Wednesday that he accepted responsibility for deciding to wage war in Iraq in part on the basis of faulty intelligence, but that he remained convinced history would conclude he had done the right thing." ... "Speaking hours before Iraqis began arriving at the polls to elect a new government, Bush acknowledged miscalculations and mistakes before and after the U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq in March 2003." ... ""It is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong," Bush told a group of political leaders and scholars at the nonpartisan Woodrow Wilson Center. "As president, I'm responsible for the decision to go into Iraq, and I'm also responsible for fixing what went wrong by reforming our intelligence capabilities."" -By Warren Vieth-LAtimes
Iraq - "With delight and fervour, Iraqis cast ballots." ... "There may not be the same sense of history this time round, but the joy and determination of Iraqi voters emerging from dictatorship is still evident." ... "Young and old, able-bodied and infirm, they streamed to polls for the third time in 11 months on Thursday, this time to elect a four-year parliament." ... "While not as novel as the first post-Saddam Hussein election in January, participation was more widespread. Sunni Arabs, who boycotted the earlier poll for an interim assembly, flocked to vote this time, determined not to miss out on power again." -By Luke Baker -Reuters via -AlertNet.org/Newsdesk

20051214

Iran - US - Alaska - Canada - Germany - History - "Iranian leader: Holocaust a 'myth'." ... "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has described the Holocaust as "a myth" and suggested that Israel be moved to Europe, the United States, Canada or Alaska." ... "Ahmadinejad sparked widespread international condemnation in October when he called for Israel to be "wiped off the map."" ... "Last week, he also expressed doubt about the killing by the Nazis of six million Jews during World War II, but Wednesday was the first occasion when he said in public that the Holocaust was a myth." ... "In Berlin, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said his government had summoned the Iranian charge d'affaires to make "unmistakably clear" its displeasure, The Associated Press said." -CNN
Military - Intelligence - Law - Secrets - Arizona - "New Army Rules May Snarl Talks With McCain on Detainee Issue." ... "The Army has approved a new, classified set of interrogation methods that may complicate negotiations over legislation proposed by [Arizona Republican] Senator John McCain to bar cruel and inhumane treatment of detainees in American custody, military officials said Tuesday." ... "The techniques are included in a 10-page classified addendum to a new Army field manual that was forwarded this week to Stephen A. Cambone, the under secretary of defense for intelligence policy, for final approval, they said." ... "The addendum provides dozens of examples and goes into exacting detail on what procedures may or may not be used, and in what circumstances. Army interrogators have never had a set of such specific guidelines that would help teach them how to walk right up to the line between legal and illegal interrogations." -By Eric Schmitt with contributions by Joel Brinkley -NYTimes
Privacy- Law - Terrorism - "An 11th-hour drive to amend Patriot Act: Congress is set to vote Friday on extending parts of the law, but some say privacy needs protecting." ... "An unusual coalition of lawmakers and activists opposed to parts of the USA Patriot Act is mounting a last push to persuade Congress to take more time before voting to extend some of the law's most controversial provisions." ... "At issue is whether Congress has been rigorous enough in assessing how the Patriot Act - which the White House calls vital to its war on terror - has been implemented. Many lawmakers were stunned by recent press reports, denied but not corrected by the Justice Department, that the FBI has issued as many as 30,000 "national security letters" since the law was passed nearly unanimously in 2001. The letters order private and public entities to turn over records and other private data about Americans - and remain silent about it." -By Gail Russell Chaddock -CSMonitor
Iraq - TV - "Iraqis Grasp the Art of TV Debate, With Gloves On: The airwaves are rife with candidate forums featuring polite speech in a nation torn by war." ... "For the first time, the televised campaign debate has come to Iraq, and it has brought with it a level of civility and political discourse far different from that found on the nation's often bloody streets." ... "Across Iraq, politicians of all stripes moved with fear as they campaigned for Thursday's parliamentary election. On Tuesday, a Sunni Arab candidate was slain in Ramadi, the fourth office-seeker to be assassinated in recent weeks." ... "But in Iraqi TV studios, it's a different story." ... "Politicians are now free to use the medium of televised debates to expose voters to their styles, images and rhetorical flourishes. And here, the tone has been polite." (1, 2) -By Louise Roug with contributions by Shamil Aziz, Saif Rasheed and Asmaa Waguih -LAtimes

20051213

Hurricane Katrina - Disaster - Government - Politics - "Battle brews over a bigger military role: The Pentagon tilts toward taking more authority in major disasters - worrying governors, lawmakers." ... "The lessons learned from hurricane Katrina appear to be putting the Pentagon on a collision course with governors and lawmakers worried about the expanding role of the military in disaster response." ... "Gaining currency at the highest levels of the Pentagon is the idea that during a catastrophic event - either natural or terrorist - the Department of Defense should replace the Department of Homeland Security as the agency in charge of the federal response." ... "In many ways, the notion is limited, affecting only how the federal government deploys its own resources. Yet in a nation founded on a distrust of military control, any suggestion of giving the armed forces greater authority on American soil faces centuries-old skepticism. Moreover, it comes at a time when governors are already feeling besieged by an administration that, they feel, is too eager to wrest power from them." -By Mark Sappenfield -CSMonitor
California - Los Angeles - History - Politics - "Stanley Tookie Williams executed: Crips gang co-founder put to death for 4 murders." ... "Stanley Tookie Williams -- the cofounder of the violent Crips street gang who became an anti-gang crusader while on death-row -- died by lethal injection early Tuesday for the 1979 killings of four people in two Los Angles [California] robberies." ... "Williams' case set off intense debates over the death penalty and redemption, with celebrities, activists and anti-death penalty advocates saying his initiatives and anti-gang message from behind bars had proven his life was worth saving. He had even been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and the Nobel Prize in Literature by an array of college professors, a Swiss lawmaker and others." ... "Before Williams went to the execution chamber, the stepmother of one of the men Williams was convicted of killing said she felt "justice is going to be done tonight."" ... "[...] Sister Helen Prejean, a Roman Catholic nun and a prominent death penalty opponent, compared the death penalty to "gang justice."" ... ""Gang justice is, if you kill a member of our gang, we kill you -- and don't tell me anything about how you changed your life or what you're going to do," she said. "You kill, and we kill you. And that's what the United States of America is doing with this."" -With contributions by Ted Rowlands, Kareen Wynter, and Bill Mears -CNN

20051212

US - Iraq - World - Intelligence - Politics - "Peace-making a core mission in new Pentagon policy." ... "After years of internal debate, the Pentagon has embraced a fundamental change in policy which calls for the U.S. armed forces to be equally adept at waging war and making peace." ... "The new course, announced in a Pentagon directive, follows widespread criticism of the conduct of the war in Iraq, where U.S. forces scored a swift, decisive victory over conventional opponents but found themselves ill-equipped to deal with post-combat chaos and an increasingly effective insurgency." ... "The directive says that establishing order and security, restoring essential services and meeting the humanitarian needs of the population of a vanquished country were a "core U.S. military mission.""" ... "The directive specifies the need for better language skills, more regional expertise, better intelligence and counterintelligence, more emphasis on studying foreign cultures and more coordination with foreign governments, international organizations and nongovernmental organizations." (1, 2) -By Bernd Debusmannn -Reuters

dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/html/300005.htm

Money - Texas - California - Florida - Opinion - "Can Congress police its ethics? Criminal probes are exposing corrupt practices in Congress, prompting calls for reform of ethics standards." ... "With a flurry of corruption indictments and related plea agreements threatening to become a storm, Congress is feeling the heat on ethics reform." ... "Criminal investigations in Texas, California, and Florida are shining a bright light on standards of conduct in Congress, helping sink public confidence in the institution to its lowest point in more than a decade." ... "Since 1998, lobbyists report spending some $13 billion to influence Congress, the White House, and federal agencies, according to the Center for Public Integrity. Over the same period, more than 200 former members of Congress and 42 former agency heads have registered as federal lobbyists." ... "Nearly 90 percent of Americans say that political corruption is a serious problem, according to an AP-Ipsos poll." -By Gail Russell Chaddock -CSMonitor
Iran - Israel - Nuclear - "Iran's leader drawing fire: President Ahmadinejad is proving too radical even for some Iranian conservatives." ... "Courting confrontation both at home and abroad, Iran's hard-line president is inserting like-minded ideologues into key positions. He's holding strong to Iran's nuclear ambitions. And he's inviting ire in the West with more anti-Israel rhetoric." (1, 2) -By Scott Peterson -CSMonitor
Iran - Religious - Nuclear - Military - Terrorism - Politics - "Iran's not-so-secret hatred." ... "Since taking office, Ahmadinejad has pushed Iran further into hatred, intolerance and theocratic tyranny--quite a feat in a repressive country that funds terrorists around the world. He has sacked many of the pragmatists in the government and replaced them with hard-liners. There are signs that even the despotic mullahs who run the country are getting nervous. They reportedly moved recently to strip him of some of his power." ... "If only the threat from Iran were limited to fierce rhetoric." ... "Just a few days ago, Mohamed ElBaradei, the ultra-cautious head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, hinted that Iran could be a lot closer to developing a bomb than was thought previously. He said the international community is "losing patience" with Iran. Robert Joseph, a top State Department official, said Friday that Iran is "very aggressive, very determined to develop nuclear weapons."" -ChicagoTribune
Alaska - Oil - Business - Environment - Law - "White House pushes Congress on Alaska drilling." ... "Bush administration officials on Monday urged Congress to include opening Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling in a broad budget-cutting bill that could see a vote this week." ... "The Senate included ANWR in its package of spending cuts. But the House-passed budget bill dropped the ANWR drilling provision after a group of moderate Republicans threatened to vote against the measure if the drilling language was included." ... "The Bush administration stepped up its lobbying efforts to give oil companies access to the refuge." (1, 2) -By Chris Baltimore with contributions by Richard Cowan -Reuters
Samuel Alito- Bill Frist - Tennessee - West-Virginia - Law - "Fight looms if Republicans change Senate rules." ... "Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd warned on Monday that he would bring the U.S. Senate to a virtual standstill if Republicans carry out a threat to change its rules by outlawing filibusters on judicial nominations." ... "Byrd of West Virginia, a staunch defender of the Senate's often arcane rules and procedures, was responding to a comment by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist [Republican, Tennessee], who said Sunday he might move to restrict filibusters if Democrats try to block the nomination of Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court." (1, 2) -By Richard Cowan -Reuters
Texas - Tom DeLay - Political - Maps - 2004 Election - "Supreme Court to rule on Texas poll maps case." ... "The US Supreme Court said on Monday it would rule on controversial maps for electoral districts in Texas that were engineered by Tom DeLay, the former majority leader in the House of Representatives, to increase Republican strength in Congress." ... "The new maps, drawn in 2003, played a key role in the 2004 congressional elections, when five incumbent Democrats in Texas lost their seats in the House, boosting Republicans' majority on Capitol Hill and enhancing Mr DeLay's image as a powerful political force." ... "The high court review is also likely to draw fresh attention to recent disclosures that staff attorneys at the US Department of Justice objected to the Texas maps, arguing that they would disadvantage minority voters. Those criticisms were over-ruled by senior political appointees at the department." -By Holly Yeager -FT.com
US - Iraq - Military - Politics - "Bush Estimates 30,000 Iraqis Killed in War." ... "In a rare, unscripted moment, President Bush on Monday estimated 30,000 Iraqis have died in the war, the first time he has publicly acknowledged the high price Iraqis have paid in the push for democracy." ... "``I would say 30,000, more or less, have died as a result of the initial incursion and the ongoing violence against Iraqis,'' Bush said. ``We've lost about 2,140 of our own troops in Iraq.''" ... "The U.S. military does not release its tally of Iraqi dead, but there is some consensus from outside experts that roughly 30,000 is a credible number. White House counselor Dan Bartlett said Bush was not giving an official figure but simply repeating public estimates." -By Nedra Pickler -AP via -Guardian.co.uk
Iraq - Law - US - Military - "Early Voting Begins in Iraq; Nine Killed." ... "Thousands of Iraqi forces will be protecting polling stations, with U.S. and other coalition troops ready to help in case of a major attack." ... "Most attention has focused on Sunni Arabs, who largely boycotted the Jan. 30 election to protest the continued U.S. military presence. That enabled the Shiites and Kurds to dominate parliament, a move that sharpened communal tensions and fueled the Sunni-dominated insurgency." ... "This time, more Sunni Arab candidates are in the race, and changes in the election law to allocate most seats by province instead of based on a party's nationwide total all but guaranteed a sizable Sunni bloc in the next assembly." -By Qassim Abdul-Zahra -AP via -Guardian.co.uk

20051208

Iran - Israel - Saudi Arabia - Britain - Germany - History - "Iran's Ahmadinejad casts doubt on Holocaust." ... "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday expressed doubt the Holocaust took place and suggested the Jewish state of Israel be moved to Europe." ... "His comments, reported by Iran's official IRNA news agency from a news conference he gave in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca, follow his call in October for Israel to be "wiped off the map", which sparked widespread international outrage." ... "The latest comments also provoked quick condemnation. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called them "totally unacceptable" and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said "I condemn them unreservedly. They have no place in civilised political debate."" -By Paul Hughes with contributions by Jeffrey Heller -Reuters.co.uk
Iran - Israel - Saudi Arabia - Palestine - Germany - Austria - Military- History - "Update 2: Iranian President: Move Israel to Europe." ... "Iran's hard-liner president, who has called for Israel's destruction, said Thursday that the Jewish state should be moved to Europe if the West wants to make up for the Holocaust." ... "Speaking to reporters at an Islamic summit in the Muslim holy city of Mecca [Saudi Arabia], Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad implied that European countries backed the founding of Israel in the Middle East in 1948 out of guilt over the Holocaust." ... ""Some European countries insist on saying that during World War II, Hitler burned millions of Jews and put them in concentration camps," Ahmadinejad said. "Any historian, commentator or scientist who doubts that is taken to prison or gets condemned."" ... ""Let's give some land to the Zionists in Europe or in Germany or Austria, so they can have their government there," he said. "They faced injustice in Europe, so why do the repercussions fall on the Palestinians? Offer a piece of land from Europe, and we will back this decision and will not attack this government."" -AP via -Forbes
US - Iraq - "A tale of 2 scarred cities: Najaf and Mosul." ... "Although President Bush said Wednesday that residents in Najaf and Mosul are "gaining a personal stake in a peaceful future," critics in the two Iraqi cities cite corruption, undemocratic institutions, persistent violence and stalled reconstruction." ... "Najaf is a largely peaceful Shiite city 100 miles south of Baghdad that has not suffered from the sectarian attacks ravaging other parts of the country. But rivalries between Shiite factions have occasionally become violent, and many complain that militant political parties and militias dominate city government and security forces." -By Alaa al-Morjani and Sindbad Ahmed -AP via -ChicagoTribune
US - Iraq - Politics - Police - "Bus bombing kills 30 in Baghdad: A suicide attacker has detonated a bomb on a bus in Baghdad, killing at least 30 people, Iraqi police said." ... "The vehicle was leaving al-Nahda bus station heading south for the Shia town of Nasiriya when the attack occurred." ... "Witnesses said the bus was gutted and left in flames by the explosion. Another 25 people are reported injured." ... "Iraq has been bracing for an increase in violence by anti-US insurgents ahead of the election next Thursday for the first full-term post-Saddam parliament." ... "Police believe the attacker waited until the bus was pulling away slowly from the station and jumped on board to avoid security checks." -BBC /News
Government - Disaster - Hurricane Katrina - "FEMA Chief Was Warned In 2004." ... "FEMA's top official was told more than a year before Hurricane Katrina that the agency's emergency response teams were unprepared for a major disaster and were operating under outdated plans, documents show." ... "An 11-page memo to Michael Brown, former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, from June 2004 described teams of national response managers that were not prepared and were getting "zero funding for training, exercise or team equipment."" ... "Those responders "provide the only practical, expeditious option for the (FEMA) director to field a cohesive team of his best people to handle the next big one," wrote William Carwile, one of FEMA's federal coordinating officers." ... "Carwile told Senate aides in a meeting this week that his memo largely was ignored at FEMA's headquarters, as were four budget requests over an 18-month period for money for the teams." -AP via -CBSNews

20051207

Christmas - Religion - "'Holiday' Cards Ring Hollow for Some on Bushes' List." ... "What's missing from the White House Christmas card? Christmas." ... "This month, as in every December since he took office, President Bush sent out cards with a generic end-of-the-year message, wishing 1.4 million of his close friends and supporters a happy "holiday season."" ... "Religious conservatives are miffed because they have been pressuring stores to advertise Christmas sales rather than "holiday specials" and urging schools to let students out for Christmas vacation rather than for "winter break." They celebrated when House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) insisted that the sparkling spectacle on the Capitol lawn should be called the Capitol Christmas Tree, not a holiday spruce." ... "Then along comes a generic season's greeting from the White House, paid for by the Republican National Committee. The cover art is also secular, if not humanist: It shows the presidential pets -- two dogs and a cat -- frolicking on a snowy White House lawn." (1, 2) -By Alan Cooperman-WashingtonPost
China - Water - Environment - "Chinese toxic spill official found dead." ... "A vice mayor in charge of evacuating a Chinese city after a chemical plant exploded has been found dead at home, a city official said on Wednesday, as a toxic river flow resulting from the accident continued to spread." ... "Wang Wei, vice mayor in the northeastern city of Jilin, had been in charge of dealing with the aftermath of the November 13 blast, state media reports said at the time." ... "Wang was quoted as saying that the accident would not cause widespread pollution. In fact 100 tons of cancer-causing benzene compounds spilled into the Songhua river which provides drinking water for the 9 million people of the city of Harbin. Tap water supplies had to be shut off for nearly a week." (1, 2) -By Ben Blanchard and Vivi Lin -Reuters
Egypt - Politics - "Update 9: Eight Killed in Egyptian Voting Violence." ... "Police barricaded polling stations and fired tear gas and rubber bullets Wednesday to keep supporters of the banned Muslim Brotherhood from voting in the final day of parliamentary elections. At least eight people were killed, including a 14-year-old boy." ... "Supporters of the banned Brotherhood fought back, hurling stones and molotov cocktails and cornering security forces in some towns." ... "The last day of the vote, which stretched over a month, was by far the most violent. A total of at least 10 people have been killed during the three rounds of balloting, which began Nov. 9 and are considered a key test of President Hosni Mubarak's pledge to open the autocratic political system." -AP via -Forbes
Virginia - Religion - Politics - Seniors - "Mayor charged with defrauding charity." ... "The mayor of the south-central Virginia city of Lynchburg was indicted over allegations that he looted a church charity of more than $30,000 and defrauded two people of their Social Security disability benefits." ... "Mayor Carl B. Hutcherson Jr. was charged with fraud, making false statements to federal officials and bank representatives, and obstruction of justice." ... "The federal indictment, issued Dec. 1 and unsealed Wednesday, alleges that Hutcherson was struggling to pay the bills at a funeral home he runs as he took money from the disability recipients and a charity connected to Trinity United Methodist Church, where he is pastor." -By Sue Lindsey -AP via -SeattlePI.NWsource
California - US Immigration - "Campbell Defeats Anti-Immigration Candidate to Win House Seat." ... "California Republican State Senator John Campbell won election to the U.S. Congress representing the 48th District in Orange County, defeating Jim Gilchrist, one of the founders of the Minutemen border security group." ... "The campaign in the Republican-dominated district highlights a split within the party between those, such as Gilchrist, who demand tighter controls on immigration, and those who would match improved border enforcement with the creation of a new guest- worker program for immigrants, as President George W. Bush has endorsed." ... "Campbell backs allowing undocumented immigrants in the U.S. to apply for temporary-worker status if they first pay a fine and return for a time to their country of origin." -By Nicholas Johnston -Bloomberg
Washington - Gay - "Spokane voters oust mayor embroiled in sex scandal: Recall vote - James West, accused of offering city jobs and other favors to entice dates, will leave office Dec. 16." ... "Mayor James West was recalled from office Tuesday in a special election prompted by news accounts that he offered City Hall jobs and perks to young men he met in a gay Internet chat room." ... "West, 54, a Republican and former state legislator who voted against gay-friendly bills, must leave office when the election results are certified Dec. 16." ... "The Spokesman-Review newspaper conducted an undercover investigation and reported in a series of articles beginning May 5 that West visited gay chat rooms on his city-owned computer and offered internships and other favors to young men he hoped to have sex with." -By John K. Wiley -OregonLive.com/Oregonian
US- Iraq - Military - Terrorism - Intelligence - Opinion - Economy- "Poll: Bush's Ratings Bump Up." ... "The President’s overall approval rating has risen from 35 percent in October to 40 percent now, and his ratings on handling the economy and the war in Iraq have also improved." ... "The Bush Administration continues to face criticism from many Democrats and other war opponents about the way pre-war intelligence was handled, and whether there truly was a compelling connection between Iraq and the terror threat to the United States. Fifty-two percent of Americans think the Bush Administration deliberately misled the public in making the case for war, while 44 percent say it did not." ... "An overwhelming majority of Americans think this Congress should be asking questions about pre-war intelligence. Fifty-six percent call it a very important line of questioning, and another 24 percent call it somewhat important." -CBSNews
Bill Frist - Rick Santorum - Tom DeLay - Medical - Law - "Terri Schiavo's widower takes aim at politicians." ... "Terri Schiavo's widower launched a political action committee on Wednesday aimed at defeating elected officials he accused of exploiting a tragedy for political gain by trying to block court orders that allowed his brain-damaged wife to die." ... "Michael Schiavo said in a news release that the group, TerriPAC, would raise money to campaign against members of Congress, mostly Republicans, who drafted and voted for legislation to intervene in the case." ... "Among Republicans it is targeting are Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas." -By Jane Sutton -Reuters
"Debate Over Tax Cuts Centers on the Rich." ... "The Senate has passed a bill that, in the most costly of its many provisions, would include one more year of relief from the alternative minimum tax, which was added to the tax code in 1969 to prevent the wealthy from sheltering most of their income. Nearly half of the benefits of that provision, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, would go to taxpayers with incomes between $100,000 and $200,000." ... "The low tax rates that apply to dividends and capital gains — the profits on the sale of assets, such as stocks — are scheduled to expire at the end of 2008. More than half of the benefits of extending them through 2010, according to the Tax Policy Center, would be enjoyed by taxpayers with incomes of more than $1 million." -By Joel Havemann -LAtimes

20051206

Burns - Abramoff - Money- Government - Lawmaker - Montana - US - Northern Mariana Islands - Garment - Worker - Florida - Sports - 2006 Election - "Records Show Burns' Abramoff Meetings: Senate Panel Chairman Met Abramoff Team, Collected $12,000 in Donations While Helping Lobbying Client." ... "[Montana Republican Senator] Sen. Conrad Burns and his staff met Jack Abramoff's lobbying team on at least eight occasions and collected $12,000 in donations around the time that the lawmaker took legislative action favorable to Abramoff's clients in the Northern Mariana Islands, records show." ... "The 2001 donations to Burns, a Montana Republican, included money directly from Abramoff and a key garment company executive in the Pacific islands who was part of the coalition paying Abramoff's firm to fend off stronger U.S. [worker] regulations on the islands." ... "In addition, two Burns staffers had accepted a trip arranged by Abramoff to attend the Super Bowl in Florida earlier that year." ... "At the time, Burns served on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that was considering legislation the Marianas opposed. He also ran a Senate appropriations subcommittee that controlled spending for the Interior Department, which regulates U.S. territories including the islands." ... "Burns, who is up for re-election to a fourth term in 2006, received about $150,000 in donations from Abramoff, his firm and his clients between 2001 and 2004." (1, 2, 3) -By Mary Clare Jalonick -AP via -ABCNEWS.com
US - Germany - Afghanistan - Secret - Military - Terrorism - Intelligence - Prisons - Law - Politics - VA - "German citizen held in secret prison sues ex-CIA director." ... "A German citizen whom the CIA abducted from Macedonia and held in a secret prison in Afghanistan for five months sued former CIA Director George Tenet on Tuesday, saying he'd been tortured." ... "[Khaled] Al-Masri's lawsuit, filed by ACLU lawyers in Alexandria, Va. [Virginia], sheds light on the CIA's secret practice of "extraordinary renditions," using special teams to capture suspected terrorists and transport them to countries that practice torture or to one of the agency's reported secret prisons in Eastern Europe or Asia." ... "In the four years since the Sept. 11 attacks, the CIA has captured about 3,000 people, including some top al-Qaida leaders, according to a Washington Post report. Intelligence committees in Congress have been told that the CIA's inspector general is investigating possible "erroneous renditions."" ... "U.S. officials refuse to confirm or deny the existence of secret prisons." -By Frank Davies and Warren P. Strobel -MercuryNews
US - Germany - Intelligence - "‘Abduction’ case tarnishes Rice’s efforts to repair ties with Berlin." ... "Attempts to repair strained relations between the US and Germany backfired on Tuesday after Angela Merkel, Germany’s new chancellor, said Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, had admitted that in the case of a German citizen [Khaled el-Masri] who says he was abducted and detained for several months two years ago the US had made “a mistake”, a claim swiftly denied by US officials." ... "“We talked about the case, which the US government has accepted as a mistake,” Ms Merkel said after meeting Ms Rice in Berlin. “I am very glad that the secretary of state has repeated again here that when mistakes happen they must of course be corrected immediately.”" ... "Ms Rice gave a more circumspect account of the meeting. “As I told the chancellor, I cannot comment on specific aspects of our intelligence activities. . . I have also stressed that on the political area, mistakes sometimes happen,” she said. -By Bertrand Benoit and Hugh Williamson -FT.com
US - Iraq - Niger - Lewis Libby - Dick Cheney - Military - Politics - Law - "Plame Is Set to Leave the CIA." ... "[Valerie] Plame, 42, worked undercover for the CIA tracking weapons proliferation but saw her clandestine career imperiled after she was identified as an agency operative in the summer of 2003 in a syndicated column by Robert Novak." ... "Plame is married to Joseph C. Wilson IV, a former ambassador, who was sent by the CIA to Africa in February 2002 to evaluate claims that Saddam Hussein was trying to buy weapons-grade uranium in Niger. Wilson found the claims unverifiable and publicly criticized the intelligence used by the administration to justify the war against Iraq." ... "Administration officials began a campaign to discredit Wilson and identified Plame in conversations with several journalists, potentially violating a law against unmasking undercover agents. A federal grand jury recently indicted former [Vice President Dick] Cheney aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby on charges that he repeatedly lied to investigators." -By Richard B. Schmitt -LAtimes
GOV - Air - Water - Health - Politics - Business - Kentucky - "A fight over easing rules for reporting toxic emissions: The EPA plan would help small businesses reduce paperwork." ... "Gracie Lewis is on a crusade to save the Toxics Release Inventory, a trove of federal pollution data vital to helping her - and activists nationwide - win community battles for cleaner air and water." ... "Until a couple of years ago, Mrs. Lewis was at her wits' end over the stew of chemical odors wafting into her home from nearby factories in the industrial heart of Louisville, Ky. [Kentucky], a neighborhood known as "Rubbertown."" ... "Though she still smells them today, the city now has a plan for beating back toxic emissions, in part because of TRI data gathered annually by the Environmental Protection Agency, she says. With those crucial numbers in hand, she and other activists can ferret out companies releasing harmful chemicals. "Once we smell it, we call the odor hot line," she says." ... "But that ability to check the numbers may be changing as the EPA mulls over whether to lower the TRI reporting requirements. Small businesses have welcomed the proposal because it eliminates extra paperwork. But Lewis, environmentalists, and first responders have become part of a vocal national backlash since the changes were first proposed in September. These groups argue they would lose vital data and would not be able to hold polluters accountable." -By Mark Clayton -CSMonitor
Iran - EU - France - Russia - US - UN - Politics - "Iran stays course on nukes: The EU has also drawn a firm line against allowing Iran to enrich uranium." ... "Iran says it is ready for "constructive and serious" talks over its controversial nuclear program, but Monday spelled out a bedrock position on enriching uranium that European negotiators deem "unacceptable."" ... "But just as Iran draws its red line, Europeans are sticking to theirs, insisting that no enrichment can take place in Iran." ... "France's foreign minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy, expressed dismay at Iran's stance Monday, saying that its insistence on enriching uranium was a "unilateral" rejection of a Russian proposal to resolve the standoff." ... "The Europeans and the US will support action against Iran by the UN Security Council unless there is compromise over what they see as a proliferation risk. But on Saturday, Iran approved a bill that would halt international inspections of its atomic facilities if Iran were taken before the Security Council." -By Scott Peterson -CSMonitor
Venezuela - "Chávez claims boost from 'landslide' victory: Less than 25 percent of eligible voters showed up to vote in Sunday's legislative election, raising questions of legitimacy." ... "Many voting stations across Venezuela were eerily quiet during Sunday's congressional elections as allies of President Hugo Chávez gained almost complete control over the country's national assembly in a landslide victory." ... "Mr. Chávez's Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) says progovernment parties have won all 167 seats in the assembly, with MVR winning 114, far surpassing the two-thirds majority needed to fast-track any legislation. Critics worry that Chávez may use his strengthened position to do away with presidential term limits." ... "But five opposition parties boycotted the vote, claiming that the nation's electoral authority was biased toward Chávez's allies. And fewer than 25 percent of registered voters participated in the elections, leading some critics and analysts to say there is a crisis of legitimacy." -By Jens Erik Gould -CSMonitor

Kazakhstan

Russia

China

United States

Oil

"Foes call Kazakh poll invalid: Observers also see flaws in figures." ... "Opposition leaders yesterday called for President Nursultan Nazarbayev's election victory to be declared invalid, while Western-led observers said the vote that gave him 91 percent support was flawed." ... "An array of exit polls had indicated Nazarbayev would win with 70 to 80 percent of the vote." ... "Kazakhstan, which is four times the size of Texas and borders both Russia and China, has vast oil and gas reserves that are a potential alternative to Middle East petroleum, and its stability matters greatly to the United States and Western Europe." -By Jim Heintz

-AP via -BostonGlobe

Kazakhstan - "Kazakh president gains third term as observers attack ballot methods." ... "Nursultan Nazarbayev secured a third term as president of Kazakhstan with 91 per cent of the vote, in the latest election in a former Soviet state to be criticised by observers as falling short of international standards." ... "Mr Nazarbayev's "soft authoritarian" methods, however, along with fast-growing output from the country's vast oil and gas reserves, have delivered higher living standards and made Kazakhstan the most advanced central Asian state." -By Neil Buckley-FT.com
Iraq - Political - History - "Hussein faces victims amid shouts, chaos: As trial's first witnesses take the stand, ex-Iraqi leader 'not afraid to be executed'." ... "The first witnesses took the stand Monday in Saddam Hussein's trial and gave gripping accounts of torture and mass executions as the defiant ex-president and other defendants tried to intimidate those testifying." ... "The outbursts punctuated an extraordinary eight-hour session in which Hussein faced victims of his government's massacres in court for the first time. The first witness, Ahmad Hassan Muhammad, 38, riveted the courtroom with the scenes of torture he had witnessed after his arrest in 1982, including seeing a machine that "looked like a grinder" with hair and blood beneath it." ... "Standing 10 feet from Hussein, he described Baath Party officials hurling a young boy out a window to his death. At one point, Muhammad briefly broke down in tears as he recalled how his brother was tortured with electrical shocks in front of their 77-year-old father." ... ""There were mass arrests of men and women and children," Muhammad said. "Even if a child was 1 day old, they used to tell his parents, 'Bring him with you.' "" -By Robert F. Worth -NYTimes via SFGate.com
Iraq - Political - History - "Accounts of Brutality Roil Hussein Trial: The deposed leader is confronted by witnesses who tell of torture and attacks on their village. He threatens and spars with them and the judge." ... "The first witnesses to take the stand against Saddam Hussein confronted him Monday with chilling testimony about an aerial assault on their village, mass arrests, torture by electric shock, and executions after the Iraqi leader survived an assassination attempt there." ... "Two witnesses, men now in their 30s, stood glaring at the deposed leader a few feet away as each outlined his memory of the horrors suffered in their youth. Hussein and some of his seven co-defendants being tried in the slayings of 146 villagers repeatedly disrupted the proceedings and furiously disparaged the charges." ... "Hussein and his co-defendants are accused of ordering or carrying out the roundup, interrogation and torture of about 1,500 villagers in Dujayl after a small group of gunmen opened fire on the presidential motorcade July 8, 1982. They are also charged with criminal destruction of tens of thousands of acres of village land." (1, 2) -By Richard Boudreaux with contributions by Borzou Daragahi -LAtimes
Russia - Civil Liberties - Intelligence- Politics - "Russia reins in 'foreign influence': The legislature wants to tighten state control of 450,000 civic groups." ... "The headquarters for Open Russia in downtown Moscow was known as "The Citadel" for its turreted Gothic facade." ... "But these days a real bunker mentality prevails inside the civic education center founded by now-imprisoned oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Like many other Russian nonprofit groups involved with public policy issues, it faces possible closure under new legislation that goes before the Duma next week." ... ""I don't want to be a Cassandra, but I fear the entire nonprofit sector in Russia is facing dark times," says Irina Yasina, the center's program director. "There is spy mania in Russia, and they are specially scrutinizing any organization that has foreign funding."" ... "All of Russia's estimated 450,000 civic groups - from community sports clubs to charities and nationwide human rights movements - will need to re-register next year with a special state agency. The sweeping amendments to Russia's law on nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), approved by a Duma majority last month, would add up to levels of state control not seen since Soviet times." (1, 2) -By Fred Weir -CSMonitor
Government - Military -Intelligence - Prisons - Telecommunications - Politics - "Government gets 5 "F's," 12 "D's" in last 9/11 report." ... "The federal government received failing and mediocre grades Monday from the former Sept. 11 commission, whose members said in a final report that the Bush administration and Congress have balked at enacting numerous reforms that could save American lives and prevent another terrorist attack on U.S. soil." ... "The group also said there has been little progress in forcing federal agencies to share intelligence and terrorism information and sharply criticized government efforts to secure weapons of mass destruction or establish clear standards for the proper treatment of U.S. detainees." ... "The panel also sharply criticized Congress for failing to enable first responders to communicate easily by setting aside part of the broadcast spectrum for their use. A pending budget bill would open part of the spectrum for first responders in 2009, but the Sept. 11 panel said that date is "too distant given the urgency of the threat."" -By Dan Eggen-WashingtonPost via -SeattleTimes.NWsource
Government - Politics - Nuclear - "9/11 Panel Criticizes U.S. Terror Response." ... "The members of the Sept. 11 commission gave dismal grades to the Bush administration and Congress on Monday in measuring the government's recent efforts to prevent terrorist attacks on American soil, concluding that the government deserved many more F's and D's than A's." ... "The new report by the 9/11 Public Discourse Project, a private group established by the commission's five Republicans and five Democrats when the panel formally went out of business last year, graded the government's response to the 41 recommendations made in the commission's final report 17 months ago." ... "There were 17 F's or D's - including an F to Congress for its failure to allocate the domestic antiterrorism budget on the basis of risk and a D for the government's effort to track down and secure nuclear material that could be used by terrorists." -By Philip Shenon -NYTimes

20051205

Kazakhstan - "President of Kazakhstan Secures a Third Term in Office." ... "President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan secured a third term in office over the weekend in an overwhelming victory, the country's election commission announced today, while a prominent international observer mission said the election did not meet democratic standards." ... "Among the problems, Mr. George [a member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] said, were pro-government bias in the state media, voter intimidation and restrictions of freedom of press and assembly during the campaign, as well as ballot stuffing, multiple voting, pressure against students to vote for Mr. Nazarbayev and irregularities of vote counting on election day." ... "The observers placed responsibility for the shortfalls largely on Mr. Nazarbayev himself. "This happened despite assurances from the president that elections would be free and fair," said Audrey Glover, who also led part of the organization's efforts in Kazakhstan." -By C. J. Chivers -NYTimes
Tom DeLay - Texas - Political - Money - "Judge Upholds Most Serious Charges Against DeLay." ... "A judge in Texas today dismissed part of a state indictment against Representative Tom DeLay, who was forced out of his post as leader of the Republican majority in the House two months ago after he was charged with conspiracy and political fund-raising abuses." ... "Judge Pat Priest dropped conspiracy from Mr. DeLay's indictment, but let stand for trial the more serious accusation of money-laundering." ... "The judge said Mr. DeLay could not be prosecuted on the charge of conspiracy to violate the state election code because the applicable law did not take effect until Sept. 1, 2003, and the illegal activity alleged by prosecutors occurred in 2002." -By David Stout with contributions by Mark J. Prendergast and Shadi Rahimi -NYTimes
US - Iraq - Politics - "Saddam's defense team walks out of resumed trial." ... "The court in the Saddam Hussein trial allowed former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark and another foreign defense lawyer to address the session Monday, reversing a ruling that had led the defense to walk out." ... "After a 90-minute recess, Chief Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin allowed Clark and ex-Qatari Justice Minister Najib al-Nueimi to speak on the questions of the legitimacy of the tribunal and safety of the lawyers." -AP via -USATODAY
US - World - Prison - Terrorism - Intelligence - Law - Arizona - "McCain won't concede on torture ban: Insists on language prohibiting cruel, inhumane treatment." ... "[Arizona Republican] Senator John McCain, a prisoner of war who was tortured in Vietnam, yesterday said he will refuse to yield on his demands that the White House agree with his proposed ban on the use of torture to extract information from suspected terrorists." ... "''I won't," he said on NBC's ''Meet the Press" when asked whether he would compromise with the Bush administration." ... "He is insisting on his language that no person in US custody should be subject to ''cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment."" -By Jim Abrams -AP via -BostonGlobe

20051202

North Carolina - 2004 Election - Computer - Web - Law - "North Carolina defends e-voting certifications." ... "It has been a turbulent week for electronic voting systems in North Carolina." ... "Watchdog groups say the state "illegally" certified systems built by two e-voting vendors just days after one admitted it couldn't meet stringent new laws about disclosing its source code. Meanwhile, a voting-systems manager defended the decision to award the contracts." ... "The rules were aligned with actions taken this summer by the state legislature, which passed changes to election laws that set new standards for e-voting machines and decertified all the state's existing systems. Those changes came in response to glitches encountered by one of the state's counties during the 2004 presidential elections, resulting in the loss of more than 4,500 votes." -By Anne Broache -CNET /News
California - Religion - Library - Law - "Bush administration backs prayer services at library." ... "The Bush administration is siding with a Christian group in its lawsuit demanding rights to conduct prayer services at public libraries." ... "The case concerns a [California] Contra Costa County policy allowing the public to use free meeting rooms at its libraries, but prohibits "religious services and activities."" -By David Kravets -AP via -MercuryNews

Google: <Faith Center Church Evangelistic Ministries v. Glover, 05-16312>

Samuel Alito - Abortion - Law - "Schumer Asks Alito for More Abortion Info." ... "In the latest Democratic challenge to Judge Samuel Alito, Sen. Charles Schumer on Thursday urged the Supreme Court nominee to detail any role he played in drafting the Reagan administration's 1985 request for reversal of a landmark abortion rights ruling." ... "Schumer said in a letter that it was ``puzzling'' that Alito had omitted mention of the case in filling out a Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire that sought a detailed summary covering ``the nature of your participation'' in litigation before the Supreme Court." -By David Espo -AP via -Guardian.co.uk
Samuel Alito - Abortion - Law - "Schumer Asks Alito for More Abortion Info." ... "In the latest Democratic challenge to Judge Samuel Alito, Sen. Charles Schumer on Thursday urged the Supreme Court nominee to detail any role he played in drafting the Reagan administration's 1985 request for reversal of a landmark abortion rights ruling." ... "Schumer said in a letter that it was ``puzzling'' that Alito had omitted mention of the case in filling out a Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire that sought a detailed summary covering ``the nature of your participation'' in litigation before the Supreme Court." -By David Espo -AP via -Guardian.co.uk
US - Iraq - Politics - "10 Marines killed near Falluja: Marines conducting 'counter-insurgency' operations in Falluja, Ramadi." ... "A roadside bomb Thursday killed 10 Marines while they were on "foot patrol near Falluja," the Marine Corps said Friday." ... "Eleven Marines were also wounded in the incident, and four of them have not yet returned to duty." ... "Marines have been conducting "counterinsurgency operations" in the Falluja and Ramadi areas ahead of the December 15 elections." ... "This brings the number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq to 2,123." -Contributed to by Arwa Damon and Mohammed Tawfeeq -CNN
Samuel Alito - Employee - Consumer - Business - Civil Righs - Politics - "Alito wary of individual rights: Review's portrait of judge: A non-partisan conservative who steadily backs authority." ... "During his 15 years on the federal bench, Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito Jr. has worked quietly but resolutely to weave a conservative legal agenda into the fabric of the nation's laws." ... "A Knight Ridder review of Alito's 311 published opinions on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals -- each now part of federal case law used to establish legal precedent and set public policy -- found a clear pattern. Although Alito's opinions are rarely written with obvious ideology, he has seldom sided with a criminal defendant, a foreign national facing deportation, an employee alleging discrimination or a consumer suing a large business." ... "A review of Alito's work on dozens of cases that raised important social issues found that he rarely supports individual-rights claims." -By Stephen Henderson -KnightRidder via -MercuryNews

20051201

Samuel Alito- Abortion - Politics - Pennsylvania - History - "Alito's role in trying to overturn Roe v. Wade detailed in papers." ... "As a Justice Department lawyer in the Reagan administration, Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito helped devise a legal strategy to persuade the high court to restrict and eventually overturn Roe v. Wade, the historic decision legalizing abortion." ... "In a memo disclosed Wednesday that he wrote in 1985 as an assistant to the solicitor general, Alito recommended that the administration submit a brief to the Supreme Court, asking it to uphold a Pennsylvania law that imposed a variety of abortion restrictions and "make clear that we disagree with Roe v. Wade."" ... "Alito argued that stepping into the case, Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, would be a more effective strategy for President Reagan than a "frontal assault" on the landmark case and would not "even tacitly concede Roe's legitimacy." Disagreeing with the administration's position, the court struck down the law the following year." -By Amy Goldstein and Jo Becker-WashingtonPost via -SeattleTimes.NWsource
Samuel Alito - Abortion - Medical - Politics - "Alito File Shows Strategy to Curb Abortion Ruling." ... "As a lawyer in the Reagan Justice Department, the Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. played an integral role in devising legal strategy to pare back the landmark abortion rights case Roe v. Wade, documents disclosed Wednesday show." ... "Judge Alito argued in a 1985 memorandum to the Reagan administration's solicitor general that two pending Supreme Court cases were an "opportunity to advance the goals of overruling Roe v. Wade and, in the meantime, of mitigating its effects."" ... "And in a strongly worded 17-page legal analysis, he recommended advancing the administration's ultimate case against Roe by defending state regulations requiring doctors to provide women seeking abortions with information about fetal development, the risks and "unforeseeable detrimental effects" of the procedure and the availability of adoption services or paternal child support." (1, 2) -By David D. Kirkpatrick -NYTimes

20051130

US - Iraq - Prison - Politics - "General: Americans Must Stop Iraqi Abusers." ... "The nation's top military man, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, said American troops in Iraq have a duty to intercede and stop abuse of prisoners by Iraqi security personnel." ... "When Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld contradicted Pace, the general stood firm." ... "Rumsfeld told the general he believed Pace meant to say the U.S. soldiers had to report the abuse, not stop it." ... "Pace stuck to his original statement." ... ""If they are physically present when inhumane treatment is taking place, sir, they have an obligation to try to stop it," Pace told his civilian boss." -By William C. Mann -AP via -WashingtonPost
Samuel Alito - Abortion - Politics - "Alito Pushed Abortion Fight Under Reagan: Alito Pushed for Step-By-Step, 'Eventual Overruling' of Abortion Rights As Reagan Lawyer." ... "As a young government lawyer opposed to abortion rights, Samuel Alito argued for a legal strategy of chipping away at the landmark Supreme Court ruling rather than mounting an all-out assault likely to inflict a defeat on the Reagan administration, according to documents released Wednesday." ... ""No one seriously believes that the court is about to overrule Roe v. Wade," the current Supreme Court nominee wrote in an internal Justice Department memo on May 30, 1985. Referring to a high court decision to review two abortion-related cases at the time, he asked, "What can be made of this opportunity to advance the goals of bringing about the eventual overruling … and in the meantime, of mitigating its effects."" (1, 2, 3) -By David Espo -AP via -ABCNEWS.com
Samuel Alito - Law - History - Pennsylvania - "Alito to face questioning on affirmative action, voting rights." ... "[Pennsylvania] Sen. Arlen Specter, serving notice that he intends to take up contentious issues raised in years-old writings by Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., asked the Supreme Court nominee Wednesday to be prepared to clarify his views on affirmative action and voting rights." ... "In a 1985 memo Alito wrote while seeking a promotion in the Reagan administration's Justice Department, he said he disagreed with Supreme Court reapportionment decisions in the 1960s that enforced the doctrine of "one person, one vote."" ... "Specter also noted that the case that established "one person, one vote" had been "instrumental to ensuring that all people's votes are weighted equally in our representative democracy."" -By Steve Goldstein -KnightRidder via -MercuryNews
Samuel Alito - Abortion - Politics - "Alito proposed anti-abortion strategy in 1985." ... "U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, as a Reagan administration lawyer 20 years ago, outlined ways to limit abortion rights without overturning a 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion, a memo released on Wednesday showed." ... "This strategy, Alito wrote as an assistant in the U.S. Solicitor General's Office, could curb the landmark ruling without generating headlines about a "stinging rebuke" of it." ... "The 1985 memo by Alito was a road map on how to expand states' ability to regulate certain aspects of abortion." (1, 2) -By Thomas Ferraro and Joanne Kenen with contributions by Richard Cowan and Donna Smith -Reuters via -ABCNEWS.com
US - Iraq - Police - Politics - "Bush Offers 'Strategy for Victory' in Iraq: The president again rejects a timetable for troop withdrawal." ... "Moving to deflect criticism of the war in Iraq and lay out new conditions that would allow the departure of U.S. troops, President Bush said today he would settle for "nothing less than complete victory" there, and defined that success as creating an Iraq in which Iraqis could live in peace protected by their own security forces." ... "The president devoted much of the roughly 35-minute speech to presenting a picture of Iraqi police and military units increasingly being able to carry on the campaign against those he called "rejectionists, Saddamists and terrorists."" ... "But he did not address three ongoing concerns about the security forces: their de facto division into three segments made up separately of Kurds, Shiites and Sunni; the fact that some Sunnis are accepting the U.S. training and then joining the insurgency; and the infiltration of the Iraqi government's security forces by members of ethnic militia loyal to leaders other than those of the government." -By James Gerstenzang, Tyler Marshall and Mark Mazzetti -LAtimes

20051129

US - Mexico - US Immigration - 2006 Election - Politics - Police - Worker - Tucson - Arizona - "Bush revives immigration reform push: Switching priorities, he only touches on guest-worker plan." ... "President Bush promised a renewed push for changes in immigration law Monday, reversing the priorities he had set out nearly two years ago by emphasizing tougher border enforcement and mentioning his controversial guest-worker program almost as an afterthought." ... "Bush joins several congressional Republicans in Congress, including several likely presidential candidates, who intend to make an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws a priority heading into the 2006 midterm elections." ... ""Illegal immigration is a serious challenge," Bush told a gathering of border enforcement officials in Tucson [Arizona]. "And our responsibility is clear. We are going to protect the border."" -By Carolyn Lochhead -SFGate.com
US - Zimbabwe- Law - "US labels Zimbabwe Senate election a 'nonevent'." ... "In a sign of growing U.S. animosity toward Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, a senior U.S. official dismissed as "a nonevent" last weekend's Senate poll victory by the ruling party in the southern African nation." ... "Asked to comment on the election of a new upper chamber of parliament, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Zimbabwe's new Senate was created by Mugabe as a "source of patronage for ruling party politicians."" ... "Final results announced on Monday showed Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party won a broad majority in the 66-seat Senate, which will have the final word on any new laws." -Reuters
Canada - History - "Defeated Canadian PM sets election date." ... "Prime Minister Paul Martin launched an election campaign on Tuesday with a slim lead in the polls after his minority government was toppled in Parliament on Monday night over a corruption scandal." ... "Martin informed Governor-General Michaelle Jean, representative of head of state Queen Elizabeth, that his Liberal government had lost the confidence of Parliament and emerged from her official residence to announce the election would be on January 23." ... "The Liberals, who have governed a majority of the time since Canada was founded in 1867, will be seeking their fifth straight term since the Conservatives went down to defeat in 1993." (1, 2) -By Randall Palmer and David Ljunggren -Reuters
Virginia - Execution - Law - Politics - North Carolina - South Carolina - "UPDATE 1-Virginia governor stops milestone U.S. execution." ... "Virginia Gov. Mark Warner halted the execution of a convicted murderer who would have been the 1,000th person put to death in the United States since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, a spokesman said on Tuesday." ... "Since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976 and executions resumed in 1977, 999 people have been executed in the United States. North Carolina and South Carolina have scheduled executions later in the week." -By Andy Sullivan -Reuters

20051128

Samuel Alito - Law - "Advocacy Groups Targeting Vulnerable Senators on Alito Vote." ... "Groups on both sides began mobilizing supporters hours after Bush announced Alito's nomination on Oct. 31. But the brewing battle has been largely obscured by the decorum of Alito's courtesy calls to senators, to whom he has offered reassuring words about his 15 years as an appeals court judge. The effort has earned praise from many senators, including some Democrats, who are impressed by Alito's intellect, judicial experience and professed respect for legal precedent." ... "But if the ritual visits to senators are mostly smiles, small talk and carefully calibrated promises to interpret the law, not make it, the street-level campaign is something else altogether. Both sides are framing their arguments in urgent and emotional words -- hoping to sway what polls suggest is substantial but hardly insurmountable sentiment for Alito to be confirmed. With a quarter to a third of Americans still uninformed or undecided, both sides are working hard to win converts." (1, 2) -By Michael A. Fletcher-WashingtonPost
Virginia - History - "McDonnell Wins Va. Vote, Pending Recount." ... "The closest statewide election in modern Virginia history headed for a recount Monday after Republican Bob McDonnell was certified as the winner of the attorney general's race by 323 votes out of more than 1.9 million cast." -AP via-WashingtonPost
California - Military- Business - Politics - "Bribed congressman resigns, pleads guilty to charges." ... "The co-conspirators are not named in the charging documents. Public records show relationships between [California Republican Randy "Duke"] Cunningham and two contractors whom he helped get Pentagon work: MZM and ADCS. MZM's former president, Mitchell Wade, bought Cunningham's former house, allowing him to buy a more expensive house in Rancho Santa Fe. Brent Wilkes, founder of ADCS, raised $105,250 in personal, company and employee campaign contributions for Cunningham during the past decade. Neither Wade nor Wilkes has been charged with a crime. Their lawyers declined to comment." ... "ADCS landed more than $90 million in government contracts since 1997, when Cunningham helped the company get one of its first Pentagon contracts. Wilkes also provided a corporate jet for Cunningham to use on fundraising trips, campaign-finance records show." -By Jim Drinkard and Matt Kelley -USATODAY
Samuel Alito - New York - Government - Military - Business - Politics - Secrets - "Alito dueled with government ethics chief: As Justice Department lawyer, court nominee fought over disclosure rules." ... "As a Justice Department lawyer, Samuel Alito quarreled with the head of the government ethics office over proposed requirements on personal financial disclosures, according to documents released Monday." ... "Alito's 1987 letter was issued around the time the ethics office said his boss, Attorney General Edwin Meese III, had violated financial disclosure requirements over a $60,000 investment with a businessman who was tied to Wedtech, a Bronx, N.Y. [New York], defense contractor that was caught up in a wide-ranging federal investigation." -AP via -MSNBC
California - Military - Politics - "San Diego-area Rep. Cunningham pleads guilty to bribery, resigns." ... "[California Republican] Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham tearfully resigned Monday after pleading guilty to bribery and admitting he took $2.4 million to steer defense contracts to conspirators using his leadership position on a congressional subcommittee." ... "Authorities said Cunningham secured defense contracts worth tens of millions of dollars for the people who bribed him. The case grew from an investigation into the sale of his home in wealthy Del Mar to a wide-ranging conspiracy involving payments in cash, vacations and antiques from unidentified conspirators." -By Elliot Spagat with contributions by Erica Werner -AP via -MercuryNews
California - Political- Military - Business - "Rep. Randy 'Duke' Cunningham Pleads Guilty, Resigns." ... "[California Republican] Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham resigned his office today after pleading guilty to fraud, conspiracy to commit bribery and tax evasion in a political corruption case." ... "U.S. District Judge Larry Burns accepted the pleas from Cunningham, 63, including the congressman's admission in federal court that he had accepted bribes in exchange for performance of his official duties." ... "According to court papers, Cunningham "demanded and received" a bribe from a defense contractor who paid an inflated price for Cunningham's home in exchange for official favors." -By Tony Perry -LAtimes via -Newsday.com

20051127

Government - Military - Intelligence - Terrorism - Privacy - Law - Civil Liberties - Politics- Oregon - "Pentagon Expanding Its Domestic Surveillance Activity: Fears of Post-9/11 Terrorism Spur Proposals for New Powers." ... "The Pentagon has pushed legislation on Capitol Hill that would create an intelligence exception to the Privacy Act, allowing the FBI and others to share information gathered about U.S. citizens with the Pentagon, CIA and other intelligence agencies, as long as the data is deemed to be related to foreign intelligence. Backers say the measure is needed to strengthen investigations into terrorism or weapons of mass destruction." ... "The proposals, and other Pentagon steps aimed at improving its ability to analyze counterterrorism intelligence collected inside the United States, have drawn complaints from civil liberties advocates and a few members of Congress, who say the Defense Department's push into domestic collection is proceeding with little scrutiny by the Congress or the public." ... ""We are deputizing the military to spy on law-abiding Americans in America. This is a huge leap without even a [congressional] hearing," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore. [Oregon]), a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a recent interview." (1, 2) -By Walter Pincus with contributions by Dan Eggen -WashingtonPost
Azerbaijan - Politics - "Azerbaijan protest forcefully shut down: Group driven away with water cannons." ... "Thousands of protesters in Azerbaijan shouting "Freedom!" and vowing to occupy downtown Baku on Saturday were beaten back by riot police wielding truncheons and water cannons. Witnesses said hundreds of protesters were injured, along with at least 26 police officers." ... "The demonstration, in which opposition leaders demanding new parliamentary elections appeared to be staging an attempt to occupy the capital's Victory Square, ended abruptly when officers in helmets and riot shields broke apart the speaker's stand, ripped orange flags out of protesters' hands and began beating demonstrators and opposition leaders with batons, leaving several people lying injured in the square." -By Kim Murphy -LAtimes via -SFGate.com

20051126

Ohio - Texas - Montana - California - Jack Abramoff - Tom DeLay - Political - Business - "Corruption probe swells in Congress, lawyers say." ... "Justice Department prosecutors investigating former lobbyist Jack Abramoff are beginning to move on evidence pointing to possible corruption in Congress and executive-branch agencies, lawyers involved in the case said." ... "Prosecutors have told one lawmaker, Rep. Robert Ney, R-Ohio, and his former chief of staff that they are preparing a possible bribery case against them, according to two sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity." ... "Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican now facing separate campaign-finance charges in his home state, is one of the members under scrutiny, the sources said. Others include Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont. [Montana], Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif. [California], and several other members of Congress involved with Indian affairs, one of Abramoff's key areas of interest." -By Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi -WashingtonPost via -SeattleTimes.NWsource
Azerbaijan - Politics - "Azerbaijani activists clash with police." ... "Truncheon-wielding police Saturday beat and dispersed opposition protesters demanding a redo of disputed parliamentary elections, the first use of force against demonstrators since the vote." ... "Some 15,000 opposition activists gathered in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, to protest Nov. 6 parliamentary elections they claimed were rigged. It was latest in a series of such demonstrations in recent weeks." -By Aida Sultanova -AP via-MercuryNews
Egypt - Police - Religion - "Turmoil Grips Runoff Voting in Egypt." ... "Egyptian police barricaded polls and arrested hundreds of supporters of the banned Muslim Brotherhood movement Saturday, while armed backers of Islamist and secular politicians clashed _ severely curbing turnout and scarring a parliamentary runoff vote." ... "The violence came amid efforts by the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood _ Egypt's largest Islamist group _ to bolster its already impressive tally of 47 out of 186 seats decided so far in the three-stage elections. The ruling National Democratic Party has claimed 122 seats and is expected to maintain control of the 454-member legislature." -Contributions by Mariam Fam and Nadia Abou El-Magd -AP via -CBSNews
Ohio - Florida - Political - Business - "Feds probing SunCruz links to GOP: Federal investigators are scrutinizing a $10,000 donation made five years ago by SunCruz Casinos to a Republican campaign committee on behalf of an Ohio congressman." ... "When U.S. Rep. Bob Ney assailed the owner of SunCruz Casinos in 2000, it seemed puzzling that an Ohio lawmaker would go out of his way to attack a South Florida businessman who was trying to sell his floating gaming empire." ... "It turns out, according to federal investigators, Ney publicly called SunCruz founder Konstantinos ''Gus'' Boulis a ''bad apple'' in exchange for the company's new owners contributing $10,000 -- in his name -- to a national campaign fund to help elect Republicans to Congress." -By Jay Weaver-Miami/Herald

20051125

Texas - Thanksgiving - US - Iraq - Military - Politics - Cindy Sheehan - "Sheehan Back in Texas for War Protest." ... "The mother of a fallen soldier whose vigil against the war in Iraq outside President Bush's ranch returned to Texas, saying she is "heartbroken" that the troops are not home." ... "[Cindy] Sheehan asked protesters to return to Crawford this week during Bush's family Thanksgiving gathering. She was unknown when she set up camp outside Bush's ranch during his August vacation, but as the vigil drew thousands, she attracted national attention." -AP via -CBSNews

20051124

Samuel Alito - Family -Woman - Privacy - Law - Politics - Advertising - Pennsylvania - Drugs - "Alito ad flap centers on strip search of woman, daughter." ... "When police in a small Pennsylvania coal town went to the home of a suspected methamphetamine dealer, they sent for a female meter maid to search the suspect's wife and 10-year-old daughter." ... "The woman took the two to an upstairs bathroom, had them lift their shirts and drop their pants and patted them down. Then she directed them downstairs, where they sat on a couch while a Schuylkill County drug squad searched the home." ... "As a 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge, Alito found it acceptable to search family members even if they were not specifically named in the warrant. But his view came in a dissent to the 2-1 majority opinion written by colleague Michael Chertoff then a judge, now the nation's Homeland Security secretary who said that officers went beyond the terms of the search warrant and were liable for potential damages." -AP via -USATODAY
US - Zimbabwe - Money - "Bush widens sanctions against Zimbabwe." ... "U.S. President George W. Bush has widened economic sanctions against Zimbabwe, blocking the assets of an additional 128 people and 33 entities Washington says undermine democratic reform in the southern African state." ... "The executive order, which took effect on Wednesday, expands sanctions imposed by the United States against 77 Zimbabweans in March 2003." -Reuters via -ABCNEWS.com

20051123

Texas - Thanksgiving - Politics - "Protesters Arrested Near President Bush's Texas Ranch." ... "A dozen war protesters were arrested Wednesday for setting up camp near President Bush's [Texas'] ranch in defiance of new local bans on roadside camping and parking." ... "The protest was set to coincide with Bush's Thanksgiving ranch visit." -AP via -ABCNEWS.com

20051122

Government - Nuclear - Terrorism - Politics - "Dirty Bomb Suspect Padilla Indicted." ... "Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen held in a Navy brig as an enemy combatant for more than three years, was charged Tuesday with being part of a North American terror cell that sent money and recruits overseas to "murder, maim and kidnap."" ... "However, absent from the indictment were the sensational allegations made earlier by top Justice Department officials: that Padilla sought to blow up U.S. hotels and apartment buildings and planned an attack on America with a radiological "dirty bomb.""" ... "The charges are the latest twist in a case pitting the Bush administration's claim that the war on terrorism gives the government extraordinary powers to protect its citizens, on one side, against those who say the government can't be allowed to label Americans "enemy combatants" and hold them indefinitely without charges that can be fought in court." (1, 2) -By Mark Sherman -AP via-WashingtonPost
Germany - Woman - "Chancellor at last, Merkel constrained by coalition: Germany's parliament votes in its first female head of state Tuesday." ... "Angela Merkel's rapid rise from East German physicist to political heavyweight will reach a pinnacle Tuesday when parliament officially votes her in as the Germany's eighth postwar chancellor." ... "The famously cool Ms. Merkel won't take much time out, however, to celebrate her double coup as Germany's first female chancellor and its first from the eastern part of the country. The enormous challenge of reforming Europe's largest economy to meet the demands of globalization has infused Berlin with sober pragmatism." ... ""We want to instill trust in the people," Merkel said at the signing Friday of the agreement between her conservative Christian Democratic Union, ally Edmund Stoiber's Christian Social Union, and the center-left Social Democratic Party that paved the way for Tuesday's vote." -By Andreas Tzortzis -CSMonitor

20051121

Tom DeLay - Money - Politics - "Former DeLay Aide Pleads Guilty." ... "Michael Scanlon, a former partner to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to bribe public officials, a charge growing out of the government investigation of attempts to defraud Indian tribes and corrupt a member of Congress." ... "Scanlon, a former aide to Rep. Tom DeLay, entered the plea before U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle and agreed to pay restitution totaling more than $19 million to the tribes." -AP via -CBSNews
Ethiopia - Police - EU - "Violence in Ethiopia Inspires Regional Rally: Community Holds Protests, Raises Funds to Spotlight Unrest After Elections Abroad." ... "More than 40 people died and thousands were detained this month after demonstrators contested the May 15 election results that favored Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and his ruling party, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front. Medical officials have said police have killed many of the victims; Meles contends that the opposition groups are responsible for inciting the violence." ... "The groups say the election was rigged, and European Union officials have said the election did not meet international standards. But government officials say the irregularities were not significant enough to have swayed the election." -By Aruna Jain-WashingtonPost

20051120

Dick Cheney - GOV - Military - Politics - "Powell aide: Torture 'guidance' from VP: Former staff chief says Cheney's 'flexibility' helped lead to abuse." ... "Retired U.S. Army Col. Larry Wilkerson, who served as former Secretary of State Colin Powell's chief of staff, told CNN that the practice of torture may be continuing in U.S.-run facilities." ... ""There's no question in my mind that we did. There's no question in my mind that we may be still doing it," Wilkerson said on CNN's "Late Edition."" ... "There's no question in my mind where the philosophical guidance and the flexibility in order to do so originated -- in the vice president of the United States' office," he said. "His implementer in this case was [Defense Secretary] Donald Rumsfeld and the Defense Department."" -CNN

20051119

Azerbaijan - "Thousands demand fresh elections in Azerbaijan." ... ""Around 15,000 opposition supporters rallied on the outskirts of Baku on Saturday, demanding that Azerbaijan's leaders re-run parliamentary elections that were criticised by the West." ... "This was the third major protest since a November 6 poll handed victory to those loyal to President Ilham Aliyev, in a vote observers said was marred by ballot stuffing and police interference. -Reuters
US - Iraq - Military - "House rejects Iraq pullout." ... "In a maneuver to strike at Iraq war critics, the Republican-led House of Representatives engineered a vote on Friday on a resolution to pull U.S. troops immediately from Iraq, which was defeated nearly unanimously." ... "Democrats denounced it as a political stunt and an attack on Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, a leading Democratic military hawk who stunned his colleagues on Thursday by calling for troops to be withdrawn from Iraq as quickly as possible." ... "Unlike Murtha's proposal calling for troops to be withdrawn "as soon as practicable," which he expected would be about six months, the Republican resolution said deployment of the U.S. forces should be "terminated immediately."" -Reuters

20051117

Idaho - New_Hampshire - Alaska - Illinois- Wisconsin - Colorado - Secret - GOV - Police - Intelligence - Civil Liberties - Library - Business - Health - Privacy - Politics - "Senators Vow To Block Patriot Act." ... "Half a dozen senators worried about civil liberties –three Democrats and three Republicans – said Thursday they will try to block the measure to renew the Patriot Act, CBS News correspondent Bob Fuss reports." ... "The most controversial parts of the law that vastly expanded FBI powers after 9/11 expire at the end of the year unless renewed. An agreement on a measure to do that between the House and Senate doesn't include some minimal new protections these senators want, including having a judge review broad secret warrants when the FBI seeks information from libraries, hospitals and banks." ... ""If further changes are not made, we will work to stop this bill from becoming law," GOP Sens. Larry Craig [Idaho], John Sununu [New Hampshire] and Lisa Murkowski [Alaska] and Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin [Illinois], Russ Feingold [Wisconsin] and Ken Salazar [Colorado] said in a letter to the Senate Judiciary and Intelligence committees." -AP -CBSNews
Dick Cheney - Secret - Business - Law - Politics - Nevada - Alaska - "Did oil execs lie to Congress? Report contradicts big oil execs testimony denying a White House meeting. Democrats seek probe." ... "Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said the executives should return to Washington and set the record straight." ... "They should "be brought back to the Congress, sworn in, and forced to testify again about their involvement with Vice President Cheney's secretive energy task force and all of the issues covered in the hearing," Reid said." ... "Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, who chaired last week's hearing, refused Democrats' demands that the executives be sworn in under oath before they testified." -Reuters via -CNN /Money
Business - Politics - Iowa - "'Backdoor windfall tax' stirs the pot: Provision in Senate tax bill riles the oil industry and its supporters on the Hill." ... "There's been a heated debate going on around the Beltway about whether to impose a "windfall profit tax" on the oil industry, which has profited handsomely from soaring oil prices earlier this year." ... "But in a surprising and contested move, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) included in a Senate Finance Committee tax bill a provision that some have characterized as a 'backdoor windfall tax' on large oil companies. The committee, which Grassley chairs, passed the bill Tuesday evening. And it is being debated on the Senate floor Thursday." ... "The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the provision would raise an additional $5 billion in tax revenue in 2006 and 2007. That would help compensate for the revenue lost by the nearly $60 billion in tax breaks also included in the bill." -CNN /Money

20051116

Samuel Alito - Women's - Abortion - Health - History - Politics - Pennsylvania - Illinois - "A coauthor says Alito was instrumental in Roe v. Wade brief." ... "Samuel A. Alito Jr. played a major role in constructing the Reagan administration's 1985 brief that argued for overturning the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, according to one of the coauthors." ... "Albert Lauber, who served with Alito in the solicitor general's office, said Alito had been instrumental in drafting arguments for why the court should uphold laws in Pennsylvania and Illinois, which imposed numerous restrictions on abortions." ... "''Sam did make a major contribution to a brief which did argue, among other things, that Roe should be overruled," Lauber said. ''He just didn't write that specific part of the argument."" ... "The Supreme Court struck down some of the abortion restrictions, saying in the 5-4 decision, ''the States are not free, under the guise of protecting maternal health or potential life, to intimidate women into continuing pregnancies."" -By Michael Kranish -Boston/Globe
Labor - Drug - Politics - "Baseball Backs Stiffer Penalties for Steroid Use." ... "Reacting to Congressional pressure, Major League Baseball announced yesterday that it would again toughen the penalties for steroid use and for the first time establish testing and penalties for the use of amphetamines." ... "Under the new agreement, players who fail a test for steroids next season will be suspended 50 games, with the penalties increasing to 100 games for a second offense and a lifetime suspension for a third. A three-time offender could seek reinstatement after two years." ... "Baseball currently mandates a 10-day suspension for the first positive test, a 30-day suspension for the second, a 60-day suspension for the third and a one-year suspension for the fourth. A fifth failed test would result in a penalty at the commissioner's discretion." (1, 2) -By Jack Curry -NYTimes
US - China - Japan - Taiwan - Free Speech - Religion - "Bush urges China to move towards democractic reform." ... "In a direct rebuke to China, President George W. Bush on Wednesday held up Japan and Taiwan as free and open societies, and warned that the people of China had "legitimate" demands for more freedom of speech and religion." ... "In a speech on US-Asia relations in Kyoto, the first stop on his four-country Asia tour, Mr Bush said: "As China reforms its economy, its leaders are finding that once the door to freedom is opened, even a crack, it cannot be closed."" ... ""[They want] more freedom to express themselves, to worship without State control and to print Bibles and other sacred texts without fear of punishment."" -By Caroline Daniel -FT.com
Dick Cheney - Secret - Energy - Law - Politics - Business - Environment - Alaska - "Document Says Oil Chiefs Met With Cheney Task Force." ... "A White House document shows that executives from big oil companies met with Vice President Cheney's energy task force in 2001 -- something long suspected by environmentalists but denied as recently as last week by industry officials testifying before Congress." ... "The document, obtained this week by The Washington Post, shows that officials from Exxon Mobil Corp., Conoco (before its merger with Phillips), Shell Oil Co. and BP America Inc. met in the White House complex with the Cheney aides who were developing a national energy policy, parts of which became law and parts of which are still being debated." ... "The executives were not under oath when they testified, so they are not vulnerable to charges of perjury; committee Democrats had protested the decision by Commerce Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) not to swear in the executives. But a person can be fined or imprisoned for up to five years for making "any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or representation" to Congress." -By Dana Milbank and Justin Blum with contributions by Lucy Shackelford-WashingtonPost

20051115

Government - Intelligence - Media - Politics - I. Lewis Libby - Dick Cheney - "Post reporter testifies in CIA leak probe." ... "Washington Post editor Bob Woodward testified that a senior Bush administration official told him about CIA operative Valerie Plame about a month before her identity was publicly exposed, the Post acknowledged Wednesday." ... "Woodward told Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, who is investigating the leak of Plame's identity, that the official talked to him about Plame in mid-June 2003, the Post said. Woodward and editors at the Post refused to identify the official other than to say it was not I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff." -AP via -SeattlePI.NWsource
Political - Government - Radio - TV - Media - Editorial - Money - History - "Report: Former CPB chair violated law: Is accused of trying to turn public radio, TV into GOP mouthpiece." .. "The former chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting broke federal law by interfering with PBS programming and appearing to use political tests in hiring the corporation's new president, internal investigators said Tuesday." .. "The corporation - which funnels hundreds of millions of federal dollars to National Public Radio, the Public Broadcasting Service and noncommercial radio and television stations - was created by Congress in the late 1960s to shield public broadcasting from political influence." .. "Specifically, the report said [Republican Kenneth Y.] Tomlinson violated the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 and ethical standards by dealing directly with one of the creators of the conservative-leaning "Journal Editorial Report," hosted by the editor of The Wall Street Journal editorial page." -AP via -MSNBC
Alaska - Missouri - Legal - Environmental - Politics - "Alaska oil-drilling measure may return." ... "Legislation to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, apparently scuttled in the House last week, may resurface quickly, Republican leaders signaled Tuesday." ... "Missouri Rep. Roy Blunt, the acting majority leader, told reporters there would be no attempt to reinsert the controversial provision in deficit-cutting legislation pending in the House." ... "But when asked about plans for a final House-Senate compromise measure, he sidestepped. "It's too early to worry about" the final bill, he said of a measure that is expected to be drafted in December." -AP via -CNN
US - Iraq - Military - Politics- Alaska - "Greenfield: Bush trying to turn the table on Dems: Campaign-style rhetoric comes during eroding support for Iraq war." ... "President Bush has gone on the offensive, stepping up his political rhetoric in the face of the Iraq war's growing unpopularity." ... "In an address Monday at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska, President Bush accused war critics of "playing politics with this issue and ... sending mixed signals to our troops and the enemy."" ... "CNN Senior Analyst Jeff Greenfield talked with anchor Wolf Blitzer after the speech, analyzing the Bush administration's fresh strategy to target opponents of his Iraq policies." -CNN
US - Iraq - Military - "Senate Urges Bush to Report Progress on Ending War (Update2)." ... "The Senate today called on President George W. Bush to explain his strategy for ending the war in Iraq and report every three months on progress until all U.S. troops stationed there are redeployed." ... "The measure calls on the administration to make 2006 a year of significant political and military transition in Iraq that will allow a phased reduction of U.S. forces." ... "None of these measures are in the House version of the defense authorization bill, which means they'll be the subject of negotiation when the two chambers hammer out compromise legislation." -By Jeff St.Onge -Bloomberg
US - Iraq - Vietnam - Military - Political - History - "Poll: American attitudes on Iraq similar to Vietnam era." ... "There are enormous differences between the war in Iraq and the one in Vietnam that defined a generation. The current conflict hasn't lasted as long, taken nearly as many American lives or sparked the sort of massive protests that became common in the '60s and '70s." ... "But when it comes to public opinion, Americans' attitudes toward Iraq and the proper course ahead are remarkably similar to public attitudes toward Vietnam in the summer of 1970, a pivotal year in that conflict and a time of enormous domestic unrest." ... "Some political scientists and Vietnam War historians predict the Iraq war, like the one in Southeast Asia a quarter-century ago, will shape American attitudes long after it's over." -By Susan Page with contributions by Andrea Stone -USATODAY
Opinion - "Bush fights to regain public's trust: Campaign aimed at shoring up his standing in polls." ... "A CNN/USA TODAY Gallup Poll released Monday found that for the first time, more than half of the public thinks Bush is not honest and trustworthy —52 percent to 46 percent." ... "Forty-eight percent of respondents said they trusted Bush less than they had trusted President Clinton, 36 percent said they trusted Bush more and 15 percent said they trusted Bush the same as Clinton." -By Bennett Roth -HoustonChronicle.com
Government - Science - Medical - Woman - Drugs - "FDA's Actions on Pill Faulted: A GAO report bolsters charges that the agency bowed to politics over a 'morning-after' drug." ... "Federal drug regulators compromised their usual science-based decision-making process when they ruled in 2004 against letting the "morning-after" birth control pill be sold without a prescription, congressional investigators said Monday." ... "A detailed report by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office bolstered critics' charges that the Food and Drug Administration had yielded to political pressure from social conservatives, who feared that easier access to the drug would encourage promiscuity." ... "GAO investigators also found that three separate FDA offices had recommended that Plan B be approved for sale without a prescription after reviewing data on safety and effectiveness. Two panels of outside advisors had reached the same conclusion at a joint meeting." (1, 2) -By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar-LAtimes
GOV - Television - Media - "The CPB's Report on Tomlinson." ... "Former Corporation for Public Broadcasting chairman Kenneth Tomlinson violated the law and his office's code of ethics, according to the agency's internal investigation." ... "Inspector General Kenneth Konz's report confirms that Tomlinson used "political tests" when he hired a new president and CEO to head the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Tomlinson chose Patricia Harrison, a former co-chair of the Republican National Committee, for the dual posts earlier this year." ... "Tomlinson, a Republican, ended his controversial tenure when he resigned from the CPB board on Nov. 3." -NPR /News
GOV - Television - Media - "U.S. Public TV's Ex-Chief Faulted by Internal Probe (Update2)." ... "The Corporation for Public Broadcasting's former chairman, Kenneth Tomlinson, improperly helped create a conservative news show for public television and pushed for Republican hires after discussions with the White House, an internal probe found." ... "Tomlinson personally intervened to help create ``The Journal Editorial Report'' as a counterbalance to ``NOW with Bill Moyers,'' the report said. In pushing to add the Journal show, which was unusually expensive at $4 million for its first season, Tomlinson told corporation staff ``not to interfere with his deal to bring a balancing program'' to PBS's Friday night programming, the report said." ... "Tomlinson also improperly hired a consultant with conservative ties to assess the political leanings of some guests on the Moyers show, the report said. It faulted Tomlinson for failing to consult with the corporation's board before signing the consultant's contract." -By Neil Roland -Bloomberg
GOV - Television - Media - "Report: PBS' ex-chairman violated ethics standards." ... "The former chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting [Republican Kenneth Y. Tomlinson] interfered with PBS programming and appeared to employ "political tests" in the hiring of the corporation's new president, internal investigators reported Tuesday." ... "The corporation, which funnels hundreds of millions of federal dollars to National Public Radio, the Public Broadcasting Service and other non-commercial radio and television stations, was set up by Congress in 1967 to shield public broadcasting from political influence." -AP via -USATODAY
GOV - Television - Media - "Former CPB Head Reportedly Broke Rules, Ethics Code." ... "The former chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting repeatedly violated the organization's contracting rules and code of ethics in his efforts to promote conservatives in the system, according to an internal investigation released today." ... "According to the report, Tomlinson failed to get board approval for his hiring of a consultant, Fred Mann, to monitor the political leanings of the guests on "Now With Bill Moyers" and three other programs. Mann, who divided guests into categories such as "pro-Bush" and "anti-Bush," was paid $20,200 for an analysis that was "not sophisticated," the report said." -By Matea Gold -LAtimes

20051114

Liberia - "Liberian legislators threaten to boycott." ... "In a statement issued Monday, 18 legislators elected in the country's first polls since the end of a 14-year civil war and who are allied with Weah said they would not "take their seats if the complaint of massive electoral fraud ... is not addressed adequately."" -AP via -MercuryNews
Politics - "President's ratings hit new low in poll." ... "Bush's job approval rating sank to a record low 37%. The poll finds growing criticism of the president, unease about the nation's direction and opposition to the Iraq war." ... "Two-thirds of independents and 91% of Democrats disapprove of the job Bush is doing. Even among Republicans, who have solidly backed Bush in the past, 19% express disapproval — a new high." -By Susan Page -USATODAY
Samuel Alito - Abortion - Politics - History -"Alito earlier opposed abortion." ... "U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito wrote 20 years ago as a lawyer in the Reagan administration "that the Constitution does not protect the right to an abortion," The Washington Times reported on Monday." ... "According to The Washington Times, Alito wrote in the 1985 memo, a job application, to then Attorney General Edwin Meese: "It has been an honor and source of personal satisfaction for me to serve in the office of the Solicitor General during President Reagan's administration and to help advance legal positions which I personally believe in very strongly."" ... ""I am particularly proud of my contributions in recent cases in which the government has argued in the Supreme Court that racial and ethnic quotas should not be allowed and that the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion," added Alito, who got the new job as a deputy to Meese." -By Thomas Ferraro -Reuters via -BostonGlobe
Samuel Alito - Political - Job -Abortion - Religion - Maps - "Alito Voiced Opposition to Abortion Rights on Job Application." ... "U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito Jr. said on a 1985 job application that he disagreed with the high court's ruling that there is a constitutional right to abortion." ... "Alito also said he disagreed with the court's rulings during the 1960s that outlawed organized prayer in public schools, expanded criminal defendants' rights and gave courts supervision of legislative redistricting. He gave those views in an application for a political job in the Justice Department during Ronald Reagan's presidency. At the time, Alito was an assistant to the solicitor general." -By James Rowley -Bloomberg

20051113

US - Iraq - Military - Intelligence - Politics - "The Right Way in Iraq." ... "I was wrong." ... "Almost three years ago we went into Iraq to remove what we were told -- and what many of us believed and argued -- was a threat to America. But in fact we now know that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction when our forces invaded Iraq in 2003. The intelligence was deeply flawed and, in some cases, manipulated to fit a political agenda." ... "It was a mistake to vote for this war in 2002. I take responsibility for that mistake. It has been hard to say these words because those who didn't make a mistake -- the men and women of our armed forces and their families -- have performed heroically and paid a dear price." ... "The world desperately needs moral leadership from America, and the foundation for moral leadership is telling the truth." ... "While we can't change the past, we need to accept responsibility, because a key part of restoring America's moral leadership is acknowledging when we've made mistakes or been proven wrong -- and showing that we have the creativity and guts to make it right." -By John Edwards-WashingtonPost
Azerbaijan - "Thousands protest in Azerbaijan." ... "More than 20,000 opposition supporters packed a square in Azerbaijan's capital Sunday in the second mass protest in recent days, demanding a rerun of disputed parliamentary elections in this oil-rich Caspian Sea nation." ... "Gathering under a sea of orange flags and chanting “Resign!” and “Freedom!”, opposition activists railed against what they said was a fraudulent vote in a scene similar to the protests that propelled opposition leaders to power in three other former Soviet republics in recent years." ... "About 15,000 protesters also demonstrated Wednesday against the Nov. 6 elections." -By Aida Sultanova -AP via -GlobeAndMail

20051112

US - Iraq - Secret - Military - Terrorism - Politics - Law - "Asterisks Dot White House's Iraq Argument." ... "President Bush and his national security adviser have answered critics of the Iraq war in recent days with a two-pronged argument: that Congress saw the same intelligence the administration did before the war, and that independent commissions have determined that the administration did not misrepresent the intelligence." ... "But Bush and his aides had access to much more voluminous intelligence information than did lawmakers, who were dependent on the administration to provide the material. And the commissions cited by officials, though concluding that the administration did not pressure intelligence analysts to change their conclusions, were not authorized to determine whether the administration exaggerated or distorted those conclusions." ... [Furthermore] "... Bush does not share his most sensitive intelligence, such as the President's Daily Brief, with lawmakers. Also, the National Intelligence Estimate summarizing the intelligence community's views about the threat from Iraq was given to Congress just days before the vote to authorize the use of force in that country." ... "In addition, there were doubts within the intelligence community not included in the NIE. And even the doubts expressed in the NIE could not be used publicly by members of Congress because the classified information had not been cleared for release. For example, the NIE view that Hussein would not use weapons of mass destruction against the United States or turn them over to terrorists unless backed into a corner was cleared for public use only a day before the Senate vote." -By Dana Milbank and Walter Pincus-WashingtonPost

20051111

Hurricane Katrina - Business - Politics - "FEMA Shirks Katrina Contract Vow." ... "Despite a month-old pledge, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has yet to reopen four of its biggest no-bid contracts for Hurricane Katrina work and won't do so until the contracts are virtually complete. A promise to hire more minority-owned firms also is largely unfulfilled." ... "The no-bid contracts for temporary housing, worth up to $100 million each, were given to Shaw Group Inc., Bechtel Corp., CH2M Hill Inc. and Fluor Corp. right after Katrina struck. Charges of favoritism helped prompt last month's pledge by FEMA acting director R. David Paulison, but now officials with the Homeland Security Department, which oversees FEMA, say the contracts won't be awarded again until February." (1, 2) -AP -CBSNews
Liberia - Uganda- Political - History - "Blazing a trail for Africa's women: African women are celebrating, as Liberia's Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf looks set to become the continent's first elected woman president." ... "The 67-year-old grandmother said she hoped her win would "raise the participation of women not just in Liberia but also in Africa"." ... "So is Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf's apparent victory the start of a trend?" ... "Ugandan academic Sylvia Tamale says African patriarchal societies like to see women firmly in their place. She quotes a Ugandan man at a woman candidate's parliamentary campaign rally in 1996 asking: "Have you ever heard a hen crow?"" ... "Yet, despite these traditional values, African women can crow success on a number of fronts." -By Lucy Fleming-BBC /News
Pat Robertson - Pennsylvania - School - Science - Disaster - TV - Politics - "Evangelist says voters reject God: A US Christian evangelist has told a Pennsylvania town not to ask for God's help if disaster strikes after it voted against teaching intelligent design." ... "On Tuesday, Dover [Pennsylvania] voters ousted the local school board, which had tried to introduce the concept as an alternative to the theory evolution." ... "Pat Robertson told his TV show that the town had turned its back on God." ... ""I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: If there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city," Mr Robertson said on The 700 Club." ... "The founder of the conservative Christian Broadcasting Network and Christian Coalition has faced criticism for past provocative statements." ... "Following his comments on Thursday, Mr Robertson issued a statement saying that he was simply trying to point out that "our spiritual actions have consequences"" ... ""If they have future problems in Dover, I recommend they call on Charles Darwin. Maybe he can help them.""-BBC /News
Liberia - Politics - US - UN - "Liberian protesters face tear gas." ... "U.N. forces fired tear gas at angry supporters of Liberian soccer star George Weah on Friday after they stoned police and marched to the U.S. embassy to back a demand to halt counting in an election Weah says was rigged." ... "Police from the U.N. peacekeeping force used the gas and batons to disperse hundreds of Weah supporters after they broke through a line of Liberian riot police trying to hold them back from the imposing beach side U.S. embassy building." ... "With 97 percent of polling stations' votes counted from Tuesday's runoff ballot, Harvard-trained former Finance Minister Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has an unassailable 59.4 percent. But Weah and his Congress for Democratic Change party insist the election was rigged." -Reuters via -CNN
US - Iraq - Military - Intelligence - Religious - Politics - "Poll: Majority questions Bush administration ethics." ... "Most Americans say they aren't impressed by the ethics and honesty of the Bush administration, already under scrutiny for its justifications for an unpopular war in Iraq and its role in the leak of a covert CIA officer's identity." ... "Almost six in 10 — 57 percent — said they do not think the Bush administration has high ethical standards and the same portion says President Bush is not honest, an AP-Ipsos poll found. Just over four in 10 say the administration has high ethical standards and that Bush is honest. Whites, Southerners and evangelicals were most likely to believe Bush is honest." -AP via -HoustonChronicle.com
US - Iraq - Military - Intelligence - Opinion - History - Pennsylvania - "Bush assails Iraq critics as skewing war history." ... "President George W. Bush lashed out at critics of his Iraq policy Friday, accusing them of trying to rewrite history about the decision to go to war and saying their criticism was undercutting U.S. forces in battle." ... ""While it's perfectly legitimate to criticize my decisions or the conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began," the president said in a Veterans Day speech in Pennsylvania." ... "Bush delivered his speech as part of an effort to shore up his credibility as he faces growing public skepticism about Iraq and accusations by Democrats and others that he led the nation into war on false pretenses." ... "Those accusations seem to be making a dent in public confidence in him, as public opinion polls show more people questioning the president's honesty about Iraq and about whether American troops should remain in the fight." -By Maria Newman -NYTimes via -IHT.com
US - Iraq - Military - Intelligence - Political - History - Pennsylvania - "Newsview: Bush Returns to Campaign Playbook." ... "President Bush seems to be turning the clock back to Election Day 2004, parrying with ex-rival John Kerry and harshly questioning his critics' commitment to U.S. troops." ... "You can't blame him for being nostalgic for better political times, when most Americans felt he was a strong, honest leader and gave him the benefit of the doubt on Iraq." ... "That's certainly not the sentiment these days. With his approval ratings plunging, even some Republican leaders are showing signs of abandoning Bush's listing ship." ... ""Mistakes were made," Republican Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania said Friday of the war effort." ... "When the president visited Pennsylvania to defend his Iraq policies on Friday, Santorum kept his distance, literally and rhetorically. He was 120 miles away, telling reporters the war in Iraq has been "less than optimal" and that "maybe some blame could be laid" at the White House." -By Ron Fournier -AP via-WashingtonPost
US - Iraq- Military - Intelligence - History - "Bush Fires Back at Critics of Iraq War." ... "Knocked on the defensive over allegations that he launched the Iraq war based on faulty intelligence, President Bush accused his critics today of trying to rewrite the history of how and why the war began." ... ""Some Democrats and anti-war critics are now claiming we manipulated the intelligence and misled the American people about why we went to war," he added. "These critics are fully aware that a bipartisan Senate investigation found no evidence of political pressure to change the intelligence community's judgments related to Iraq's weapons programs. They also know that intelligence agencies from around the world agreed with our assessments of Saddam Hussein."" ... "The bipartisan Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction the panel headed by Judge Laurence H. Silberman and former Sen. Charles S. Robb (D-Va.) that examined the pre-war intelligence reported that U.S. intelligence "was dead wrong in almost all of its prewar judgments" about Iraq's illicit weapons." ... ""This was a major intelligence failure," the panel members wrote." ... "However, it found no evidence that White House officials or other administration figures pressured intelligence analysts to shade or change their reports for political reasons." (1, 2) -By Warren Vieth and James Gerstenzang -LAtimes

20051110

US - Canada - Alaska - Oil - Animals - Politics - "U.S. House drops plans to drill in Arctic refuge." ... "In a move certain to please Canadian politicians as well as environmentalists on both sides of the border, U.S. House leaders abandoned plans late yesterday to push for oil drilling in an Alaskan wildlife refuge." ... "They dropped from a budget bill a provision that would open the refuge to drilling as a salve to moderate Republicans because they feared it would jeopardize approval of a sweeping legislation today." ... "Canadian politicians and activists have lobbied against the plan because it would affect a migrating caribou herd." ... "Prime Minister Paul Martin said last month that the environmental damage from opening a coastal strip of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil development would far outweigh any modest addition to U.S. crude supplies." -By Oliver Moore -GlobeAndMail
Alaska - New_Hampshire- Oil - Politics - "Bass led effort to drop Alaskan wildlife refuge oil drilling plan." ... "[New Hampshire] Rep. Charles Bass led the way in persuading House leaders to drop a hotly contested plan to open an Alaskan wildlife refuge to oil drilling." ... "Led by Bass, R-N.H., 25 Republicans signed a letter asking GOP leaders strip the language from the bill." ... "The letter said, "Rather then reversing decades of protection for this publicly held land, focusing greater attention on renewable energy sources, alternate fuels, and more efficient systems and appliances would yield more net energy savings than could come from ANWR and would have a higher benefit on the nation's long-term economic leadership and security."" -AP via -BostonGlobe

20051109

California - Virginia - Political - Business - Law - Privacy - Secret - Intelligence - "Secret military spending gets little oversight." ... "A USA TODAY analysis of MZM-related campaign contributions shows how the company's growth and its political activities became intertwined at key moments. In more than 30 instances, donations from MZM's political action committee or company employees went to two members of the House Appropriations Committee — [California Republican Randy] Cunningham and Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va. [Virginia] — in the days surrounding key votes or contract awards that helped MZM grow." ... "For example, MZM's political action committee gave Cunningham $5,000 in 2003 the day before his appointment to a congressional panel negotiating the final version of the defense budget. Ten days later, the day after the House passed the final Pentagon spending bill, Wade gave Cunningham $2,000." ... "Both lawmakers sit on the subcommittee overseeing the Pentagon's spending and have acknowledged putting language in bills that created or expanded contracts that went to MZM." -By Matt Kelley and Jim Drinkard -USATODAY
People - Government - Food - Politics- "Religious groups push to protect food stamp program." ... "Religious leaders across the country are urgently working to save $844 million in food stamps as the House of Representatives considers cuts to the program this week. A House bill, if passed, would take food stamps from about 300,000 people." ... "Religious advocates for the poor see the proposed cuts as a moral issue and say that helping the poor is a teaching of all major world religions." ... ""Cutting food stamps and other programs for low-income people is just wrong," said the Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, a lobbying group for the hungry supported by more than 45 denominations and church agencies. "It is the Bible turned upside down. The House is saying it is showing fiscal concern but at the same time is planning about $70 billion in tax cuts, and almost all are for the wealthy."" -By Helen T. Gray -KnightRidder via -MercuryNews
California - Abortion - Parents - Oregon - "California defeats abortion notification proposition." ... "Bucking a national trend, California voters reaffirmed the state's commitment to unrestricted abortion access by rejecting a ballot measure that would have required doctors to alert parents before performing the procedure on minors." ... "The proposed constitutional amendment was the first abortion-related measure ever to qualify for the California ballot. If Proposition 73 had passed - it lost 53 percent to 47 percent - California would have become the 35th state requiring either parental notification or consent before minors could terminate their pregnancies." ... "Voters in only one other state have rebuffed so called "parental involvement" measures. A parental consent law was defeated in Oregon in 1990, according to Physicians for Reproductive Choice." -By Lisa Leff -AP via -MercuryNews
Azerbaijan - "Tho