If Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel gets his way, everyone in America will be the government's slave for two years. He doesn't call it "slavery." He calls it a "draft." But if you look closely at what he's demanding, it's not just military service. It's all-purpose involuntary servitude:
Rangel says having a draft would not necessarily mean everyone called to duty would have to serve. Instead, "young people [would] commit themselves to a couple of ... (more)
Relatives of suspects in criminal investigations are to face having DNA tests and their confidential medical records released to the authorities if they refuse to co-operate with the police.
Internal government guidelines on the use of the DNA database seen by The Independent on Sunday instruct the police to ask for medical files belonging to the relatives of criminals so their blood and tissue samples can be tested for DNA.
"A draft report on strategies for Iraq, which will be debated here by a bipartisan commission beginning on Monday, urges an aggressive regional diplomatic initiative that includes direct talks with Iran and Syria, but sets no timetables for a military withdrawal, according to officials who have seen all or parts of the document," the New York Times is set to report in page one Monday leads.
Excerpts:
While the diplomatic strategy appears like... (more)
Detectives investigating the death of Alexander Litvinenko were last night examining the possibility that the former spy killed himself to discredit Vladimir Putin.
Increasing concerns over the reliability of the Russian dissident's death-bed testimony have prompted police to check every detail of Mr Litvinenko's version of events on 1 November, the day he said he was poisoned.
The Russian dissident's death on British soil has triggered an unprecedented investigatio... (more)
There are no “accidents” in Middle East politics. This week’s assassination of Lebanese Industry Minister, Pierre Gemayel can only be understood in the context of the ongoing struggle between the competing political forces in the region. Presently, the United States is the big loser in this regard due to its failed campaign in Iraq. The war has severely damaged the perception of US military invincibility and triggered a stunning rejection of Bush’s policies in the in the ... (more)
He knew there were problems. He didn't think he was one of them. In 2002, decorated FBI Special Agent Mike German was investigating meetings between terrorism suspects. When he discovered other officers had jeopardized the investigation by violating wiretapping regulations, he reported what he found to his supervisors, in accordance with FBI policy.
At the time, Coleen Rowley, the FBI agent who had raised concerns about how the pre-9/11 arrest of al-Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Mou... (more)
Two years ago, when Neil Bush and his mother, the former first lady Barbara Bush, were featured guests at a $1,000-a-table fundraiser for the Western Heights School District in Oklahoma City, proceeds from the event were specifically earmarked for the purchase of products from Neil's company, Ignite! Learning. Late last year, when Neil's mom agreed to make a contribution to a Hurricane Katrina relief foundation for those victims that had relocated to Texas, she stipulated that her donation had t... (more)
Former Home Secretary David Blunkett last night spoke out against reported plans to eavesdrop on the public using microphones alongside CCTV cameras.
The Sunday Times said police and councils were considering monitoring conversations in the street, looking at devices currently used in the Netherlands.
Mr Blunkett, MP for Sheffield Brightside, said that the idea was "smacked of the "surveillance state".
Suleiman Kerimov, the Russian businessman listed by Forbes as the 72nd richest person in the world, was seriously injured on Saturday in an automobile accident in Nice, France. He lost control of his Ferrari Enzo, which struck a tree at an enormous speed and burst into flames, as he was traveling from the local airport toward the city center. Kerimov was taken by helicopter to the regional burn center at Hopital de la Conception in Marseille. He is now on artificial respiration.
Conspiracy theories have abounded since the death of Alexander Litvinenko as detectives struggle to make headway in this unprecedented case. Some point to President Putin and the Kremlin, others to Litvinenko's dissident allies, some even suggest suicide or, perhaps, an accident. Here are some of the most popular theories.
1. It was Putin
Litvinenko, in his death-bed statement, pointed his finger at President Vladimir Putin, former member of th... (more)
VATICAN CITY — Over the course of his long and controversial career, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has had many titles. Now he reportedly has one more — adviser to the Pope.
According to the Italian newspaper La Stampa, Pope Benedict XVI has invited the 83-year-old former adviser to Richard Nixon to be a political consultant, and Kissinger has accepted.
Quoting an “authoritative” diplomatic source at the ... (more)
Excerpted from a transcript of CNN's "Reliable Sources":
KURTZ: If you're sitting at home watching it on TV, you see mass kidnappings, suicide bombings, mosque bombings, death squads. When you're there as a journalist, does the situation seem as chaotic to you as it does to a viewer?
ROBERTS: You know, Howie, I had a perception of Iraq going in, and it was the first time I'd been there in three-and-a-half years. I got out a couple of days after the Saddam statue fel... (more)
Ingrid Steinitz, a 72-year-old Danish Jew, has alleged she was strip-searched and harassed by Ben-Gurion Airport security for hours and on a second occasion told to spread her legs and place her hands against a wall. But Ben-Gurion security officials said Monday that everything was done according to procedures, and that the treatment the grandmother and left-wing activist had received was entirely justified.
Steinitz travels annually to Israel, both to visit her daughter, Michal a... (more)
DETAILS WERE ANNOUNCED of the initial London roll out of a new wave of contactless debit cards, credit cards and pre-pay cards for payments under £10.
An extension to the existing Chip and PIN EMV network, Maestro / MasterCard’s PayPass and Visa's contactless system will allow users to pay for small goods such as rail tickets, newspapers and beers by waving their card in front of an RFID sensor on a point of sale or vending machine.
A federal grand jury in Honolulu has indicted a leading former military engineer for allegedly transferring classified information to Israel, China, and other countries.
Noshir Gowadia, a 62-year-old Indian-born former engineer with US defense giant Northrop Grumman, was indicted on 18-counts of federal charges and is suspected of trying to sell Israel "top secret" data about US weapons systems, according to the Washington Times. He could face the death penalty.
WASHINGTON — Of all the Democrats who rode a wave of public anger about Iraq to election victories this month, Chris Carney had the most unlikely credentials as a war critic.
Before winning the race for Pennsylvania's 10th Congressional District, Carney was part of an intelligence unit at the Pentagon that was responsible for some of the most alarming — and, it turned out, unfounded — prewar claims about Iraq.
