Australian Senate passes anti-terror laws News
Australian Senate passes anti-terror laws

[JURIST] The Australian Senate [official website] on Tuesday voted to approve new counter-terrorism laws that broaden the offense of sedition and allow for the detention of suspected terrorists for up to seven days. The legislation passed the lower house [JURIST report] last week after vigorous debate. The government blocked opposition attempts to amend the bill [JURIST report], allowing less than four hours to discuss over 100 proposed amendments to the bill and prompting opposition to call the move bad for democracy [AAP report]. The government did back down a bit over sedition provisions, including providing for extra protection for news reports or commentaries [Telegraph report] and Attorney General Philip Ruddock said that the sedition law will be reviewed next year. The sedition portion of the bill has come under fire in recent weeks, with opposition likening the laws to practices used in North Korea, Cuba and Syria [JURIST report], and Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser [official profile] contended [JURIST report] that the laws were reversing "centuries of advances" in human rights and protection of individual liberties. Reuters has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Pope Urban II sparks First Crusade

Pope Urban II threw his support behind what would become the First Crusade on November 27, 1095 during the Council of Clairmont. The Pope urged the council's participants to render aid to the Byzantine Empire, which was being attacked by the Seljuks. Pope Urban called for a wide coalition of rich and poor to combat the threat, which eventually resulted in the conquest of much of the Muslim-controlled Levant by the Crusaders and the establishment of the Crusader States. Read Pope Urban's address.  

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