A controversial bill to amend the Foreign Intelligence Security Act narrowly passed the US House of Representatives Friday in the face of a White House threat to veto it. By 213-197 House Democrats pushed through new surveillance regulations that would extend government power to eavesdrop on individuals within the United States under judicial oversight but [...]

A new executive order weakens much of the authority of the Intelligence Oversight Board (IOB) , the independent committee of private citizens which since 1976 has been responsible for reporting illegal US intelligence activities to both the president and the attorney general. The order, signed February 29, removes the IOB's oversight authority over each US [...]

UK Home Office minister Tony McNulty told members of Parliament in a written statement to the House of Commons Thursday that control orders limiting movement and restricting the rights of uncharged individuals are currently in force against 11 people suspected of terrorist activity, down from a previous 15. The names of the suspects were withheld [...]

Myanmar opposition group 88 Generation Students urged Burmese voters Friday to reject the country's new draft constitution in an upcoming national referendum . The group said in a public statement that the new constitution would only further legitimize military rule and that the procedures set in place to govern the referendum are a "sham". The [...]

US Chief Justice John Roberts and Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas told a House Appropriations subcommittee Thursday that Congress should pass a bill to raise the pay of federal judges in an attempt to close the pay gap between the federal judiciary and their colleagues in private practice. If passed, the Federal Judicial Salary [...]

Sahr MuhammedAlly : "On March 12, 2008, Mohammed Jawad , a twenty-three year old Afghan prisoner, announced to the military commission judge that he has "been brought here illegally." Jawad is accused of attempted murder for allegedly throwing a grenade at a military vehicle, and injuring two U.S. soldiers and their interpreter in Afghanistan in [...]

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Thursday condemned Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip and called on Israel to end its use of "disproportionate and excessive force" against Palestinians. Speaking at a summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Senegal, Ban said : Let me use this opportunity to once again urge Israel and [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to compel the US government to release unredacted transcripts of military hearings conducted at Guantanamo Bay in early 2007 for 14 "high-value" prisoners , during which the prisoners allegedly described torture and abuse sustained during detention in CIA secret prisons . The complaint argues [...]

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki has established a panel to investigate the December 2007 disputed presidential election that sparked mass violence in the country, according to a Thursday statement from his office. The panel is expected to probe the election's outcome, as well as the independence of the Electoral Commission of Kenya . Tensions have settled [...]

The FBI has continued to improperly use so-called national security letters (NSLs) , with the number of violations increasing in 2006 over previous years, according to a US Department of Justice follow-up review released Thursday. Last March, the DOJ found in its initial review on NSL abuse that NSL violations similarly rose between 2003 through [...]