Two secret legal opinions circulated within the US Department of Justice in 2005 endorsed "severe" interrogation techniques, including "head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures," the New York Times reported Thursday. The DOJ opinions, the first of which was released soon after Alberto Gonzales became US Attorney General in February 2005, reversed the DOJ's position that [...]

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Myanmar police arrested dozens of people for questioning during nighttime raids late Wednesday night as the government continues its crackdown on dissidents. Also Wednesday, monks crowded into train stations after being ordered to leave their monasteries and return to their hometowns. Police arrested dozens of monks last week in response to widespread anti-government protests, led [...]

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Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said Wednesday that reported Pakistani promises to drop pending corruption charges against her amount to "disinformation" and indicated that talks with President Pervez Musharraf on a possible power-sharing agreement have broken down. Pakistani officials said Tuesday they had agreed to drop charges against Bhutto, a move that would permit [...]

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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a certiorari petition Wednesday asking the US Supreme Court to hear a challenge of the government's domestic surveillance program that was rejected by the US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in July. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include attorneys, advocacy groups, scholars, and journalists who said that they could [...]

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The Constitutional Court of Indonesia Wednesday upheld marriage laws limiting polygamy , despite teachings in the predominantly Islamic country's largest religion allowing men to take up to four wives. Under Indonesian law , a man can only take a second wife if his first wife gives permission, or if his first wife is disabled or [...]

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