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Terrorist involved in Madrid and 9/11 bombings released by German court July 18, 2005 German-Syrian Mamoun Darkazanli Germany says terror arrest illegalMIM: If the Germans don't want to hand over one of their citizens, why don't they start proceedings to strip him of his citizenship instead of releasing him to continue his terrorist activity with the use of a German passport?http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/07/18/germany.extradite/BERLIN, Germany -- Germany's high court has ordered the release of a Syrian-born German man whom Spain wanted extradited in connection with the 2003 Madrid bombings.The Federal Constitutional Court ruled Monday it would be illegal to extradite Mamoun Darkazanli, a...

TEHRAN (AFP) - European nations negotiating with Iran over its controversial nuclear programme may be ready to help build nuclear reactors and supply them with fuel, Iranian negotiator Hossein Moussavian said. He told the official IRNA agency that a proposal promised by Britain, France and Germany by August and aimed at resolving the crisis could include such an offer, as well as a several-month delay before Iran's nuclear ambitions are referred to the UN Security Council. The EU proposal could make or break the lengthy diplomatic process aimed at easing widespread fears Iran is seeking nuclear weapons technology. In contrast...

MARYVILLE, Tenn. - A teenager was jailed for nine days after being accused of burning an American flag on the Fourth of July, and he faces trial next month. While the case could test a state statute against flag burning - an act the U.S. Supreme Court says is protected under the First Amendment - prosecutors said Andrew Elisha Staley has yet to argue that he was exercising free speech rights."Bottom line is, the kid got drunk," said Lisa Lee, his mother. "He's never been in trouble before."Staley, 18, is accused of taking the flag from a residence and setting...

WASHINGTON - Four female senators called Thursday for retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to stay on the court and try for chief justice if the ailing William Rehnquist steps down. In a letter to O'Connor, Republicans Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine and Democrats Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Barbara Boxer of California asked the nation's first female justice to consider staying on the high court if Chief Justice Rehnquist relinquishes the top spot. Rehnquist was discharged Thursday after two nights in the hospital for treatment of a fever. O'Connor announced her retirement on July 1, but...

Test Screening The Hill’s Geoff Earle reports Senator Sam Brownback will hold a personal meeting with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Brownback, who sits on the Judiciary Committee, was asked if he believes Gonzales would make a good SCOTUS nominee. “I need to talk with him about his view of the Constitution to tell. That’s what I hope to do this week,” Brownback said. My initial response is that if Brownback is “interviewing” Gonzales as a possible nominee, this must mean the White House is serious about the possibility of nominating him. Brownback is one of the strongest conservative voices in...

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Arlen Specter floats a rather bizarre selection to replace Chief Justice William Rehnquist if, as expected, he retires this week: Outgoing Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Specter Suggests a Chief Justice: O'Connor (NYT | RSS) Senator Arlen Specter, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, suggested on Sunday that President Bush could name Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who is retiring from the Supreme Court, to the position of chief justice if it opens up. "I think it would be very tempting if the president said to Justice O'Connor, 'You could help the country now,' " Mr. Specter, Republican...

Is it possible that President Bush's pending Supreme Court nomination could provide him with his very own Sista Souljah moment? In the midst of Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign, the candidate attended a meeting of Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition and launched a rebuke of the group for providing a forum to black rapper Sister Souljah, whose racially inflammatory comments had recently been in the news. Clinton's purpose was to demonstrate his ability to stand up to a constituency to which he was perceived to be beholden. For Clinton it was African Americans. For Bush it is social conservatives. Perhaps no...

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Someone urinated in the holy water at a suburban Rochester, N.Y., Catholic church. Four local teens have been charged with that and other vandalism. Monroe County sheriff's deputies said the teenagers smashed wine bottles against the walls, left bicycle skid marks on the carpet, emptied the fire extinguishers and burned cigarette holes in the Saint Pious X Church. The damage is estimated at $17,000. Charged are 18-year-old Dan Seklar, 17-year-old Richard DeCarolis, 16-year-old Michael Street and a 15-year-old who is being charged as a juvenile. All are charged with burglary and criminal mischief, both felonies. The boys...

With O'Connor already announcing her intention to retire, Rehnquist leaving us with only a question of when, and the strong likelihood of 85-year-old Stevens or Ginsburg retiring by 2008, I propose that Bush should consider nominating Anthony Kennedy to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Don't get me wrong: I'd love to watch Nancy Pelosi's head explode as Clarence Thomas or Antonin Scalia were promoted. But the viscreal thrill of it aside (and yes, I know I'm a junkie when I can refer to the "visceral thrill "of a Supreme Court nomination), it wouldn't do much. "Chief Justice" has...

Ruling throws media for a curve A judge's ruling that two talk-radio hosts' on-air activity could be considered campaign contributions has attracted concern that the decision could have unintended effects on other media. "This is an extremely important ruling that has very significant implications across the country for the First Amendment," warned Mark Lamb, one of two lawyers who represented Initiative 912 sponsors in Thurston County Superior Court against claims by opponents that the radio hosts' activities could be considered political contributions.Superior Court Judge Chris Wickham ruled Friday morning that on-air advocacy of the anti-gasoline-tax initiative by KVI Radio hosts...

I just realized...I mean that. It's going to come down to this. I have often argued, as many here have, that when FReepers said they would sit home rather than vote for (McCain, usually, sometimes Guiliani), that such sitting out would put Hilary in the Whitehouse. But I'm not moving on this.

Massachusetts residents who choose not to obtain health insurance would face tax penalties and even the garnishing of their wages under a proposal Governor Mitt Romney unveiled yesterday. -snip- Under Romney's proposal, uninsured Massachusetts residents would be asked to enroll in a plan when they seek care. If they refuse, the state could recoup the medical costs in several ways, Romney said yesterday: The state might cancel the personal tax exemption on their state income taxes, which is worth about $175. It could withhold some or all of their state income tax refund and deposit it in what Romney called...

The United States said on June 22 it would give North Korea 50,000 tonnes of food aid, saying its decision was based on humanitarian need and was not linked to efforts to end Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions. 'The United States will be donating, in response to the World Food Program appeal, 50,000 metric tonnes of agricultural commodities for North Korea,' State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said, adding it was not designed to lure North Korea to six-party talks on ending its suspected nuclear arms programs.

Cops: Woman Uses Ex's Credit Card for Hit Man Thu May 19, 8:21 PM ET OSWEGO, N.Y. - A 25-year-old woman was charged with trying to hire a man to kill her ex-husband, and police say she used one of his credit cards to pay for the would-be hit man's flight from Australia. Police Capt. Michael Dehm said it was a report of an unauthorized $2,824 credit card charge from the ex-husband that led authorities to Terra L. Endres, 25. Endres was arrested Monday and charged with second-degree criminal solicitation and first-degree identity theft, both felonies. She was being held...

The United States, Canada and Mexico should establish a common security perimeter to guard against terrorism in North America, a tri-national independent task force said in a report released on Tuesday. The countries should police their borders together to help border trade, allow easier movement of citizens and to keep out potential security threats, the task force said at New York's Council on Foreign Relations. "If our two borders, the one between Canada and the United States and the U.S. and Mexico, became a frontline for security the impact that would have on normal relations and economic relations would be...

WASHINGTON, April 25 - Maneuvering in advance of a Senate floor showdown on judicial nominees intensified Monday as Senate Democrats prepared a compromise offer to Republicans that would allow votes on some judges and showcased new tactics for confronting Republicans should filibusters be barred. Congressional officials said Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, could make a proposal as early as Tuesday to allow votes on two of three Michigan nominees for a single appeals court. It could be coupled with other guarantees to Republicans, potentially including a vote on one of four candidates drawing the deepest opposition. In...

PITTSBURGH -- An evangelical Christian talk show host who questioned the beliefs of the Catholic church and entertained a caller's question about whether the late Pope John Paul II would go to heaven has been fired. Marty Minto, 39, a senior pastor at a New Castle church, was fired Friday after three years as a host on WORD-FM in Pittsburgh. He said he was told that he was alienating listeners. "As far as I'm concerned, I was doing what I've always done on the radio -- look at events around the world from a biblical perspective. I've always been willing...

ALBANY, March 29 - Commuters from out of state who take cars, trains and buses to jobs in New York have long grumbled about having to pay New York State income tax. A ruling handed down on Tuesday by the state's highest court found that the growing ranks of telecommuters from out of state must also pay. The Court of Appeals ruled 4 to 3 that a computer programmer for a group of trade unions in Queens who works mostly out of his home in Nashville must pay New York State tax on all his income, not just on part....

TiVo began testing interactive advertising tools during the weekend as it looks to appease companies wary of users' ability to skip over ads. The company confirmed late Monday that it released the first in a series of advertising features to a random and limited number of subscribers to the digital-video recorder service. The first test feature--a tag--pops up on the screen when a viewer is fast-forwarding through an advertisement. If viewers press the thumbs-up or select button during the half second the tag is displayed, they will be redirected to a menu that leads to more information about the advertised...

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) -- Nathan Wilson is an English teacher with no scientific training, but he thinks he knows how the piece of linen revered by many as Jesus' burial cloth was made. And he thinks it's not a physical sign of the Resurrection . . . Shroud expert Dan Porter said that while Wilson's theory is ingenious, it does not produce images identical to those on the shroud . . . "It is not adequate to produce something that looks like the shroud in two or three ways," said Porter, who lives in Bronxville, N.Y. "One must produce an...