The constitutional scholars who drafted the interim Palestinian constitution spoke out against Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Monday, saying that although Abbas had the right to dismiss former Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh , he acted against the constitution in June by appointing the new "emergency" government excluding Hamas without the legislature's approval and by [...]

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Ethiopian prosecutors Monday sought the death penalty against 38 opposition members convicted in June of treason and inciting violence for their roles in mass anti-government demonstrations , saying that the defendants have not demonstrated remorse and therefore should be subjected to the harshest punishment. The opposition members, most of whom belonged to the Coalition for [...]

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The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have charged two men with murder for their role in the 2005 shooting deaths of four Mounties in an Alberta ambush , the highest death toll suffered by Canada's national police force in over 100 years. Dennis Keegan Rodney Cheeseman and Sean William Hennesey are not believed to have [...]

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The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Monday urged the Filipino government to revisit the controversial 2007 Human Security Act , saying that "many voices are apprehensive" about the anti-terror legislation. Critics say the law defines terrorism too loosely and gives government authorities too much latitude to restrict civil liberties. The law, which was [...]

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The White House Monday renewed and elaborated its assertion of executive privilege as regards testimony and materials wanted by Congressional investigators in connection with the US Attorney firings controversy . In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) , White House counsel Fred Fielding [...]

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