The ruling party of Rwanda announced Friday that it had directed its lawmakers to support a forthcoming bill to abolish the death penalty . Leaders of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) voted to take the action last weekend at a meeting chaired by Rwandan President Paul Kagame , a spokesman said. The RPF, which has [...]
The Supreme Court of Canada unanimously ruled Friday that a British Columbia judge overstepped his sentencing power when he ordered a convicted criminal on probation for sexual assault to submit to mandatory submissions of bodily fluids for examination. The court held that such orders were contrary to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms . [...]
A proposed $78 billion merger between telecom giants BellSouth and AT&T stalled unexpectedly Friday in the Federal Communications Commission after two FCC commissioners, both Democrats, asked Chairman Kevin Martin for more time to study it. The deal had already been approved without reservation by the US Department of Justice Antitrust Division following an eight-month investigation [...]
Mohamed Shorbagi, the Palestinian imam of a mosque in Rome, Georgia, has pleaded guilty to a charge of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) , according to a criminal information and plea agreement unsealed Friday by the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia . Shorbagi faces a possible maximum [...]
Freelance Croatian journalist Domagoj Margetic, charged with publishing the names of two protected witnesses online, pleaded not guilty to contempt of court Friday at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) . Margetic is accused of publishing the names of witnesses who testified in the trial of Tihomir Blaskic , a former Croatian [...]
President Bush on Friday signed a bill designed to strengthen US port security by authorizing $3.4 billion to install radiation detectors, increase random searches of cargo and experiment with checking cargo before it reaches the United States. Speaking at the White House signing ceremony , Bush said the Safe Accountability for Every Port Act of [...]
The US Department of Defense Inspector General on Friday announced that the armed force's Southern Command has been ordered to investigate allegations that detainee abuse is occurring at the military facility at Guantanamo Bay . Last week, USMC Lt. Col. Colby Vokey, who represents Canadian Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr , filed a complaint based on [...]
US Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) on Friday pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and making false statements in connection with his involvement with lobbyist Jack Abramoff . Ney accepted money and gifts in exchange for taking actions on behalf of Abramoff and his clients, sixteen of which were admitted by his former chief of staff [...]
US President Bush on Friday signed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 , a bill attached to a larger port security measure late last month by Congress, making it illegal for banks or credit card companies to process transactions involving Internet gambling. Internet gambling is an estimated $12 billion dollar a year business [...]
US Army Sergeant Ricky Clousing , a paratrooper and interpreter who disputed the legality of the war in Iraq , has pleaded guilty to going absent without leave for 14 months. A court-martial in Fort Bragg, NC, on Thursday sentenced Clousing to 11 months' confinement, with all but three months suspended, under a plea agreement [...]