Senators say Gitmo should remain open, but detainee rules need to be defined
After spending the weekend at Camp Delta at Guantanamo Bay, US Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) told reporters Monday that while closing the military detention center is not necessary, establishing a precise legal status...
Rights groups say US wrongly applies witness law to hold Muslim terror suspects
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Human Rights Watch released a joint report Sunday claiming that the Bush administration has violated the material witness law by detaining nearly 70 terrorism suspects since September...
Detroit high school student Andrew Osantowski has been convicted under a post 9/11 Michigan state anti-terror law of two counts of threatening terrorism against fellow students at his Chippewa Valley High School . The case could be the...
Military, DOJ officials defend Gitmo practices at Senate hearing on detainees
Senior US military and Justice Department officials defended Guantanamo prison and US policy towards terror detainees Wednesday at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Citing continued uncertainty about their status, Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) urged Congress to...
International brief ~ Zimbabwe to seize all private productive farmland
Leading Friday's international brief, a high-level source in the cabinet of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has told news agencies in Zimbabwe that the administration has decided to push forward legislation that would nationalize all private...
Defense measure passes House, addresses role of women in combat zones
The US House of Representatives has passed a $491 billion defense measure, HR 1815 , which among other things leaves any decisions on the placement of women in war zones up to the Pentagon pending Congressional approval. House...
FBI lawyers speaking in front of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Tuesday asked for sweeping new powers to seize records from private citizens and businesses in terrorism investigations without first obtaining a judge's approval....
New homeland security legislation would scrap color-coded alerts
The US House of Representatives Wednesday passed a $34 billion Department of Homeland Security Authorization Act , which provides funding for anti-terrorism programs and an overhaul of the current terrorism warning system . If the bill becomes...
Senate to consider expanding FBI access to business records without judicial OK
Officials on Wednesday said a proposal is on the table that would allow the FBI greater access to business records without requiring judicial approval. After consultations with the Bush administration, Republican leaders of the US Senate Committee on Intelligence...
States, rights groups concerned about burdens of Real ID Act
State officials and rights groups have voiced financial and privacy concerns over the Real ID Act , the controversial identity legislation passed last Thursday in the US House of Representatives as a rider on...
