Students at the Goucher College are probably used to faculty being absent to present papers on subjects like genocide, but in the case of Leopold Munyakazi, he was pulled away to present a defense on genocide. Professor Munyakazi has been arrested on charges of genocide in Rwanda.
Continue reading “Goucher College Professor Arrested on Charges of Genocide”
CIA director nominee Leon Panetta gave startling testimony in his confirmation hearings this week by retracting a statement critical of the Bush Administration’s rendition policy and proclaiming that CIA employees will not be punished for any war crimes that they committed. I discuss the testimony on this segment of Countdown.
Continue reading “Leon Panetta Pledges That No CIA Employees Will Be Prosecuted For War Crimes”
Balgovind Prasad, 75, has been sent to prison for three months for accepting a bribe of 25 rupees (or 51 cents) from a street sweeper in 1985 to issue a federal medical certificate. He was originally sentenced to a year, but the court recently reduced the sentence due to the small size of the bribe.
If you think that American flight attendants have become a bit heavy handed, be grateful that you don’t fly Saudi Arabian Airlines flight. A man who refused to put his cigarette out on a flight to Jeddah was sentenced to 30 lashes.
Continue reading “Un-Lucky Strikes: Saudi Arabia Sentences Man To 30 Lashes for Smoking on a Flight”
This week, there is a new detailed account of how Nigerian scammers are still able to snare victims and bleed them for months and even years. John Rempel, of Leamington, Canada
, ultimately lost $150,000 after scam artists convinced him to send money from himself and relatives for over a year. In the process, he quit his job and traveled around the world for what is known as the Nigerian 419 scam.
Continue reading “The Nigerian 419 Scam: Man Gives $150,000 In Scam Lasting Over a Year”
Saudi Arabia has again shown its institutional intolerance of other religions with the arrest of Hamoud Bin Saleh, 28, who wrote about how he converted to Christianity from Islam. The arrest of the blogger followed the killing of the daughter of an official in the Kingdom’s religious police who also wrote about her Christian faith.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Eric Chevallier has publicly criticized Israel for allegedly blocking the shipment of a water purification station into Gaza, forcing France to return the equipment to Europe despite the serious health emergency growing in Gaza over contaminated water. Spain for its part has now opened an investigation to look into the allegations of crimes against humanity in how Israel conducted the operation.
Continue reading “France Accuses Israel of Blocking Needed Water Purification Equipment for Gaza as Spain Launches War Crimes Investigation”
In a striking departure from the Bush Administration, Ambassador Susan E. Rice, US Permanent Representative to the United Nations, called for an investigation into possible war crimes committed by Israel in the recent Gaza fighting. While correctly noting such violations by Hamas, Rice noted that there are now credible accounts that need to be investigated. The question is now whether the Administration will apply the same standard to the investigation and prosecution of war crimes that are now clearly identified in the Bush Administration involving an official torture program.
Continue reading “Obama Administration Calls for War Crimes Investigation in Gaza War — But Remains Undecided on Any Prosecution of U.S. War Crimes Under the Bush Administration”
Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond (R., Mo.), the vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, has told The Washington Times that Eric Holder privately assured him that there would be no prosecution of Bush officials for torture or unlawful acts. The story is reminiscent of last week’s statement by Gen. Michael Hayden that he was assured by President Obama that there would be no investigations or prosecutions allowed for war crimes committed by the Bush Administration. I discussed this story and the recent ACLU demand for the release of the torture and surveillance memos on this segment of Countdown.
The former CIA station chief in Algeria is under investigation by the State and Justice departments for the drugging and raping of two women in his home. Reports indicate that videotapes were recovered showing the officer having sex with what appeared to be drugged women.
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Now, this is a tort that can only be found in Japan. Yes (if you are wondering) there appears to be “good” and “bad’ blowfish testicles. Seven people have been hospitalized after eating the testicles prepared in the Japanese city of Tsuruoka by an unlicensed Fugu chef.
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The BBC has officially refused to air an appeal for aid for Gaza from ten international aid groups, including British Red Cross, Oxfam, and Save the Children. The BBC insists that, no matter how crafted, the aid request would undermine its impartiality in covering the conflict. SKY has now joined BBC in the refusal to air any appeal.
A Spanish court has rendered an interesting decision: ordering the Catholic Church to re-hire a teacher fired for adultery and to pay back pay of $12,888 to Maria del Carmen Galayo.
Continue reading “Catholic Church Ordered to Reinstate Teacher Fired for Adultery”
The New York Times had a curious op-ed piece this week from Libyan President Muammar Qaddafi who proposed a “one-state solution” to the Palestinian crisis: a new Israeli-Palestinian state called Isratine. It was a surprising source for advice on the issue from a man not only linked to “Carlos the Jackal” and terrorist operations like the destruction of Pam Am flight 103, but a man whose previously solution was to push Israeli Jews into the sea.
Continue reading “Oh Isratine: The One State Solution”
Washington is electric this morning. It is morning in America as literally billions around the world celebrate the Inauguration of our 44th President.
Continue reading “OUR 44TH PRESIDENT”