In excerpts published Sunday from a new book due out October 7, former senior Pentagon intelligence officer Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Christino, a 20-year military veteran, says that the holding and interrogation of hundreds of terror suspects under harsh physical and dubious legal conditions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has failed to stop a single terrorist attack and, contrary to "wildly exaggerated" claims of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and other senior DOD officials, has yielded little information of value.

The allegations by Christino and several others are slated to appear in Guantanamo: America's War on Human Rights, written by British journalist David Rose. Read this pre-publication excerpt from the book in Sunday's UK Guardian; an additional excerpt is available from openDemocracy here. The Guardian has more on the allegations.

The Palestinian cabinet declared a state of emergency Saturday in response to Israeli military operations in the Gaza strip. The declaration appealed for international assistance against the Israeli incursion that has resulted in the death of 11 Palestinians. The statement also condemned the "world silence in the face of the magnitude of the crimes committed."

Israel began securing the Gaza strip earlier this week in response to militant Palestinian rocket attacks. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat characterized the Israeli actions as "criminal and racist." AFP has more.

Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Raymond F. Morrogh has filed a petition for review of the decision of Fairfax County Virginia Circuit Judge M. Langhorne Keith's Friday ruling dismissing charges in the second capital murder trial of convicted "DC sniper" John Allen Mohammad. Morrogh argues that the judge erred in calculating the date of the arrest of the suspect, the reasoning behind Keith's dismissal of the case for want of a speedy trial. The Commonwealth is not permitted to appeal the judge's ruling, so the petition for review is the only avenue left.

Muhammad, under a death sentence from Prince William County, still has further prosecutions pending against him in Alabama and Louisiana which are not affected by Keith's ruling. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the story here. The Hampton Roads, VA Daily Press has local coverage here.

Australian Minister of Justice Chris Ellison said Saturday that the suicides of four individuals charged in the country's largest criminal investigation will not deter future arrests. The Australian Federal Police have already charged over 200 suspects in a massive child pornography sweep. Ellison stated that arrests from the action, termed Operation Auxin, could reach 500 individuals charged with various violations of sex crimes acts. Some individuals charged have already begun appearing before courts.

The investigtion began after American officials released information they had uncovered in an investigation of child pornography in the US, which pointed to a source of the illegal pictures, games, and videos in Australia. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the arrests here. Australia's Sunday Times has more.

Former Chilean president General Augusto Pinochet has been charged with tax evasion by the Chilean Inland Revenue Office (offical site in Spanish). Pinochet is alleged to have made false or incomplete returns based on information brought to light by a US probe into Riggs Bank in May. The US government contends that Riggs helped Pinochet hide millions of dollars he illegally siphoned off of government accounts during his rule of Chile during the 1970s and 1980s.

Pinochet also faces charges for human rights violations during his tenure, following the revocation of his immunity in August by the Chilean legislature. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the investigation of Riggs Bank here, and information on the pending human rights charges here. El Mercurio has more (story in Spanish).

The UN Security Council passed a resolution late Friday to authorize the addition of nearly 6,000 more troops to the peacekeeping force currently in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The unanimous vote came after Secretary-General Kofi Annan stated his belief that the forces in the Congo needed around 24,000 troops to adequately do their job.

The forces approved by the Council will raise the troop total to just over 16,500 troops, short of Annan's request. Council members stated concern over finding troops to fill any larger of a request and finding funding to back the UN's already tight peacekeeping budget. The Congo has been in a state of unrest following the attacks of several rebel groups trying to oust the current government. Read the offical UN press release here. BBC has more.

The Arkansas Supreme Court late Friday put independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader back on the state ballot with a 4-3 ruling, overturning a lower court determination that 1000 people who had signed a petitions in his favor had not fomally named him as "their" presidential candidate.

At this time the full text of the ruling is not yet available online. From Little Rock, the Arkansas News Bureau has more.

In a victory for free speech advocates, a US District Judge in California ruled Thursday that e-voting machine maker Diebold knowingly misrepresented its claims when it sent cease and desist letters to students who posted Diebold's internal communications on the internet, and the students' internet provider.

The memos were stolen from a Diebold company server and voiced electronic voting security concerns the company had previously denied. Diebold threatened the Swarthmore College students with litigation under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, yet knew that the materials posted did not infringe on their copyright. AP has more.

Iran overhauled Section 44 of its constitution Saturday, making changes which would allow for privatization of various industries, including shipping, telecommunications, and downstream oil and gas. The constitution, created in 1979, had previously decreed that all core infrastructure must be governed by the state, rather than by private enterprises.

The decision to permit industrial privitization was made by the Expediency Council, Iran's highest legislative body, in an effort to improve the country's failing economy. Reuters has more.

Russia's upper house of Parliament, the Federation Council, has approved a bill that would allow President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin virtually full power to appoint the judicial branch of the Russian government. The bill has yet to be approved by the lower house, the State Duma, but is expected to pass by a wide margin.

One part of the bill would cut the membership of the Supreme Qualification Council, the body which appoints judges to the Russian federal courts, from 29 members to 21; the judges sitting on the Council would be appointed by the Kremlin. The bill is the latest in a series of measures taken by Putin to limit the democratic process in Russia, following his recent move to abolish elections for regional governors. From Russia, the Moscow Times has more.

Gay rights activists in Louisiana brought a lawsuit Friday challenging the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage approved by Louisiana voters earlier this month.

The plaintiffs contend that the law was passed illegally by the state legislature because it serves to ban civil unions as well as gay marriages, and because a state election had not been planned for the day that voting on the amendment took place. The lawsuit will be heard on Tuesday in Baton Rouge. AP has more.

Conrad Black, the former CEO of Hollinger Inc., announced on Friday that he would file a $1.1 billion defamation lawsuit against a Hollinger special committee that had filed a report alleging that Black and other corporate executives had stolen money from the company.

Hollinger holdings include the Chicago Sun-Times and numerous other media outlets. Allegations of Black's misuse of company funds came to light in August, and were previously reported in JURIST. In addition to Black's lawsuit, Hollinger faces civil charges laid by the Securities and Exchange Commission for misappropriation of up to $400 million in company funds. CBC News has more on the story.