Tortured Chinese fights deportationA Chinese man tortured for his Christian faith is fighting for the right to stay in the U.S. and not be deported back to his homeland where he faces two years of imprisonment for illegally practicing his religion.
The Alliance Defense Fund has taken up the asylum cause of Li Xiaodong of Ningbo, China, under the Convention Against Torture Act. On Aug. 9 a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit denied Li's request to stay in the U.S. The religious-liberty... (more)
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Britain uses hate law to ban animal rights campaignerCharles Clarke, the home secretary, has used the government's crackdown on preachers of hate to ban an American professor who speaks for the Animal Liberation Front.
Steven Best, professor of philosophy at the University of Texas at El Paso, had intended to travel to the UK to take part in an event to celebrate the closure of a farm breeding guinea pigs for research.
The closure of the Newchurch Farm business following years of harassment and intimidation, including... (more)
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City to review Taser use during protestPittsburgh will scrutinize why city police used Tasers and police dogs to control a crowd of protesters Aug. 20 outside a military recruiting post in Oakland.
Police officers used a Taser to subdue a man and a woman in a crowd of more than three dozen protesters and allowed a second woman to be bitten by a police dog during the anti-war protest and march.
Pittsburgh City Council members plan to hold a televised public meeting with Pittsburgh Police Chief Robert W. M... (more)
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Global Aerial Surveillance Announces Plans to Develop an Amphibious Surveillance VehicleGlobal Aerial Surveillance (OTC: GARS), a developer and manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for both commercial and military applications, announced today that it is planning to develop a fully autonomous amphibious UAV designed for surveillance and search and rescue missions.
Global's new design, named the 'Sea Wraith,' is a fallback on an old maritime surveillance vehicle that has been used for spotting submarines and ships in the past. During WW2, sea planes were use... (more)
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Russia Planning More Military Exercises With China — Defense MinisterRussia is interested in holding new military exercises with China involving Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Wednesday.
“We have not yet reached any specific accords but the General Staff and I would like to plan such exercises in the future and involve SCO member states,” Ivanov was quoted by RIA-Novosti as saying at a meeting with President Putin in Sochi.
The first Sino-Russian joint military exercis... (more)
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Russia Maintaining Offensive Bio Weapons — U.S. ReportEvidence indicates that Russia along with Iran, North Korea and Syria continues to maintain biological weapons programs, AP reported Tuesday citing a U.S. State Department report.
The study, mandated by Congress, assesses compliance by foreign countries with arms control, nonproliferation and disarmament agreements. It covers developments over a two-year period ending in December 2004.
Available evidence shows that Russia “continues to maintain” an offen... (more)
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Flu pandemic is possible, official saysAn official of the state Department of Health raised the possibility yesterday of a worldwide outbreak of the avian flu, citing the shortage of vaccines in recent years and the ability for the virus to mutate and travel globally.
Barbara Wallace, director of communicable disease control for the agency, told health professionals at the Nassau County Bar Association in Mineola that in the event of a pandemic - or widespread outbreak - a flu shot would not be immediately available. C... (more)
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Giant water plume spews from Saturn’s moonFour fissures in the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus are spewing out a plume hundreds of kilometres high, the Cassini probe has revealed, and the ejecta is leaving a vapour trail that rings Saturn.
Scientists are shocked by this volcanic activity on what should be a small, quiet moon. "It is a stunning surprise," said Dennis Matson, from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, US. But researchers are beginning to develop theories about what is going on.
... (more)
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Students run for new world orderTheir zeal to make the world a better place to live-in surpassed their age, as 7000 students of City Montessori School came together in a World Unity March, from Kailashpuri Chauraha to CMS, Kanpur Road branch, today.
This march was organised with an aim to provide a platform to children demanding from the world leaders- who would participate in the UN World Summit, New York (between September 14 to 16)- a new world order, ensuring a safer tommorrow for all the two billion childre... (more)
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NY Times Skews the News… Again"By the charter that my job was given when it was set up, I have the guaranteed right to go not just to the executive editor with any misgivings I have, but directly to the publisher. On one occasion, when I thought that there was too much opinion seeping into the news pages, I went to both of them simultaneously. But that's the only time I've felt it necessary to involve the publisher."
- Allan M. Siegal, "standards editor" of the New York Times, Aug. 28, 2005 (emphasis added)
... (more)
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CIA banned from Danish air spaceThe Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs says unauthorized flights by the CIA will not be allowed into Danish airspace
The government has told the United States that the CIA can no longer use Danish airspace for flights to transport suspected terrorists around the world, reported the Copenhagen Post.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has made it quite clear to U.S. officials that Denmark does not want its airspace used for purposes that are in conflict with internation... (more)
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Superdome of ShameWatching news coverage of the refugees trying to enter the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans for safety from the approaching force-five Hurricane Katrina, I was incredulous how the people attempting to enter the stadium were being treated by the National Guard troops and local police. The people were made to stand for hours outside in the awful Louisiana climate while they were admitted one or two adults at a time so they could be searched "for firearms and alcohol."
The frail el... (more)
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Did Time intentionally deceive its readers in Plame case?For some time, the central mystery in the Valerie Plame saga was which members of the White House staff leaked the undercover CIA operative's identity to reporters. Although there are still many unanswered questions, at least part of the mystery has been solved: Time magazine correspondent Matthew Cooper has testified that he was told about Plame by White House senior adviser Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff. Yet while Cooper and his editors at ... (more)
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Zarqawi replaces Osama as terror world Numero Uno:New York: Iraqi separatist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi seems to have overshadowed al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, as far as the world most wanted terrorist is concerned.
Quoting US intelligence officials interrogating al Qaeda deputy Abu Faraj al-Libbi, who was captured in May in Pakistan, the New York Post today reported that both al-Libbi and al-Zarqawi discussed setting up terror training camps in various parts of the Middle East, including Turkey, Syria, Lebanon or Jordan.
... (more)
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Saturn moon delights and bafflesSpace scientists say their discoveries about Saturn's moon Enceladus are stunning, if just a little baffling.
Using the instrument-packed Cassini probe, they have confirmed that the 500km-wide world has an atmosphere.
They have also seen a "hotspot" at the icy moon's south pole, which is riven with cracks dubbed "tiger stripes".
But the US and European scientists told a London meeting they could not yet explain fully the energetic processes driving al... (more)
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RIA Novosti: US Offered USD 75 Million to Iraqi Sunnis for Signature under ConstitutionThe United States have offered to Sunni representatives USD 75 Million to sign the draft Constitution of Iraq, RIA Novosti announced, citing information of source close to the Constitutional Committee of the country, published in the Saudi daily Al Vatan.
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Looters taking advantage of Katrina devastationWith much of New Orleans under water in the wake of hurricane Katrina, there were reports of massive looting in the city's downtown Tuesday.
Looters were grabbing whatever they could, carrying big garbage cans full of clothing, jewelry and other goods as they waded through hip-deep water down Canal Street -- the main thoroughfare in the city's business district.
In some cases the looting took place in full view of overwhelmed police officers and National Guard troop... (more)
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'Times-Picayune' Announces New Home--in Houma--and Reports Looting by Cops and Firemen The battered Times-Picayune of New Orleans, which evacuated its downtown office this afternoon, posted a simple note to it staffers on its Web site late this afternoon: "We are working at the Houma Courier for a few days. If you have news, call 985-850-1182. We plan to set up a longer term newsroom in Baton Rouge. Call the Advocate to find out where we are."
Meanwhile, two staffers published a story on one of the Web site's blogs, reporting on the looting in the city--joined in by... (more)
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Christian Schools Bring Suit Against UCAmid the growing national debate over the mixing of religion and science in America's classrooms, University of California admissions officials have been accused in a federal civil rights lawsuit of discriminating against high schools that teach creationism and other conservative Christian viewpoints.
The suit was filed in Los Angeles federal court Thursday by the Assn. of Christian Schools International, which represents more than 800 religious schools in the state, and by the Ca... (more)
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Ban on extreme internet pornVIOLENT sexual pornography on the internet is to be banned by the Government.
Ministers are proposing a new offence of possessing violent and abusive pornography, which would criminalise anyone who acquires such an image through the internet or on a mobile phone.
Material involving adults in illegal acts is increasingly being sought out, according to a Home Office consultation paper published today. Hundreds of sites cater to this demand, offering material that depi... (more)
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Concealed carry gun permit holder saves Wal-Mart shopper's life as she's being stabbed repeatedly by her ex-husbandA fatal shooting at an Albuquerque Wal-Mart last week was the state's first by someone with a concealed-carry gun permit, authorities said.
Police said Felix Vigil was attacking his ex-wife with a knife near the store's deli counter where she worked when an armed customer intervened and shot him. The woman, Joyce Cordova, was treated for multiple stab wounds and later released from an Albuquerque hospital.
The armed customer, 72-year-old Due Moore, was interviewed a... (more)
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Martial law declared around New OrleansMartial law was declared in New Orleans midday Tuesday as the city continued flooding from at least two levees damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
WWL-TV, New Orleans, which evacuated its studios earlier, reported airlifts of sandbags had been ordered as water flooded along the city's landmark Canal Street. No one but emergency personnel was being allowed into the city, whose two airports were under water. Looting was reported.
Mayor Ray Nagin said bodies have been seen f... (more)
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