US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Friday announced draft legislation to combat violent crime that would increase penalties, extend the statute of limitations for prosecution, and create separate statutory prohibitions against violent crime by illegal immigrants . The proposed Violent Crime and Anti-Terrorism Act of 2007, brought forward just days after FBI Assistant Director of Public [...]

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US District Judge Marcia Cooke declined to exclude FBI wiretap evidence from the trial of accused terrorist supporter Jose Padilla Friday, rejecting arguments by defense attorneys that phone conversations that mentioned Osama bin Laden were irrelevant and threatened to prejudice the jury. Padilla and co-defendants Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi are charged with [...]

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US President George W. Bush continued to push for passage of the latest comprehensive immigration reform bill Friday, denying conservative claims that the bill is "amnesty" by insisting it brings consequences for those who entered the US illegally. Bush recognized bipartisan complaints that the bill has problems, but responded that it "is a good piece [...]

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Ukraine's parliament Friday approved a series of bills paving the way for early parliamentary elections on September 30. The bills, reflecting an earlier political compromise between rivals President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych that adverted a violent confrontation between their fractions, had previously twice failed to gain parliamentary approval . Also on Friday, [...]

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Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratglin , the leader of Thailand's 2006 bloodless coup , said Friday on state television that he backs amnesty for ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his party leaders. The remarks follow Wednesday's Constitutional Court ruling that banned Shinawatra from politics and dissolved his Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party. Boonyaratglin said that an [...]

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