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WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2006 – About 50 male detainees were released today from the Theater Internment Facilities in Iraq, and Iraqi and U.S. forces helped flood victims yesterday in northern Iraq, Multinational Force Iraq officials reported. Officials said the Combined Review and Release Board reviewed the detainees' cases and recommended release. The Iraqi-led CRRB, established in August 2004, consists of members from the ministries of Human Rights, Justice and Interior, as well as officers from the multinational forces. To date, the board has reviewed the cases of more than 27,200 detainees, recommending more than 14,300 individuals for release, officials said....

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26, 2006 – About 420 detainees, including five women, were to be released from coalition detention facilities in Iraq today and tomorrow, officials announced. The Iraqi-led Combined Review and Release Board reviewed the detainees' cases and recommended that they be released. The board, established in August 2004, consists of members from the ministries of Human Rights, Justice and Interior, as well as officers from the multinational forces, officials noted. To date, the board has reviewed the cases of more than 26,900 detainees, recommending more than 14,100 individuals for release. In other news, Iraqi soldiers from the 2nd Battalion,...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2006 – Hundreds of security detainees were released from prison today, and multiple bombs and weapons caches were discovered in Iraq over the last few days, U.S. military officials reported. About 500 security detainees were released from Abu Ghraib prison. Those released were not guilty of serious or violent crimes, such as bombing, torture, kidnapping, or murder, and all have admitted their crimes, renounced violence, and pledged to be good citizens of a democratic Iraq, officials said. In other news from Iraq, a young girl phoned in a tip about a possible roadside bomb to coalition forces...

USA Today piece. Link only.

MEHMET Ali Agca, the Turk who attempted to kill pope John Paul II in 1981, was freed yesterday after almost 25 years behind bars, but may soon return to jail amid legal confusion over his early release. Less than six hours after Agca walked out of the high-security Kartal prison on Istanbul's Asian shore, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said he would order a review of the case as a debate raged among jurists over whether his release was legally sound. Mr Cicek hinted that the 48-year-old Agca, who served 19 years in Italy for shooting and seriously wounding the pope...

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Insurgents exploded 13 car bombs across Iraq on Sunday, including eight in Baghdad within a three-hour span, but the New Year's Day onslaught killed no one and injured only 20 people, police said. A Sudanese official, meanwhile, announced that six kidnapped employees were freed after Sudan announced it would close its Baghdad embassy as demanded by the kidnappers. A Cypriot man kidnapped four months ago also was freed after his family paid a ransom, a relative said. The day's first car bomb in Baghdad exploded at about 8:15 a.m., wounding two Iraqi soldiers in an army patrol...

WASHINGTON - Almost 300 additional documents from Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito's time in the Justice Department were released Wednesday, two weeks before his confirmation hearings begin. Many of the latest documents released by the National Archives simply indicate that Alito was copied in on internal Justice Department memos, or are photocopies of decisions that were made by federal judges while Alito was working for the department during the Reagan administration. The Archives said it found the documents in the files of former Justice Department officials while processing Freedom of Information Act requests. Alito's confirmation hearing in the Senate Judiciary...

DANBURY, Conn. - A pacifist nun convicted of defacing a Colorado missile silo in 2002 was released Thursday from federal prison. Ardeth Platte, 69, was not due to be released until May 31, but a judge gave her credit for time already served, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Platte, along with sisters Jackie Hudson and Carol Gilbert, were arrested in October 2002 after they allegedly cut a chain link fence surrounding a Minuteman III missile silo in northern Colorado. The nuns then used baby bottles to dispense their own blood in the shape of a cross on the...

Terror Victims' Names Released, IDF Mulling Reponse 19:19 Dec 05, '05 / 4 Kislev 5766 By Ezra HaLevi Those killed in Monday’s attack are Alexander Zarnitzky, 65, from Netanya, Ilya Rosen, 38, from Bat Chefer, Daniel Golani, 45, from Nahariya and security guard Chaim Amram, 26, from Netanya. The name of the fifth victim in the deadly bombing has not yet been released. Residents of Netanya gathered at the site of the attack Monday evening to protest the security situation and perceived rewarding of Arab terrorism by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Defense Minister Sha’ul Mofaz, after consulting with IDF and...

The jailed son of late mob boss John Gotti neared freedom on Monday after a judge agreed to release him on $7 million bond, less than a week after declaring a mistrial on the bulk of his racketeering case. Under bail conditions approved by U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin, John A. ``Junior'' Gotti would be released from a federal lockup in lower Manhattan, but remain under house arrest in his home on Long Island until a possible retrial early next year. Gotti, 41, was still in custody Monday as paperwork was finalized. His lawyers said he could be home with...

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Two activists who had refused to testify before a grand jury investigating a 2003 arson fire allegedly set by radical environmentalists were released from jail following an order by a federal appeals court. Without explanation, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco voted 2-1 Friday to order U.S. District Judge Irma Gonzalez to set bail for David Agranoff, 31, and Danae Kelley, 21. Agranoff and Kelley were released later in the day after posting the $1,000 bond. They are not suspects in the Aug. 1, 2003 fire that destroyed a condominium complex under...

A Hollywood film in the works will depict a Canadian formerly detained at Guantanamo as a reformed young man who now rejects terrorism and his family's ties to al-Qaida. But there's evidence 21-year-old Abdurahman Khadr's true story doesn't fit the feel-good script proposed by Paramount Pictures, according to Andrew Walden, writing in FrontPage magazine. ABDURAHMAN KHADR Courtesy CBC Khadr is the son of Ahmed Saeed Khadr, a Canadian citizen whom the U.S. has accused of having direct ties to Osama bin Laden. He also is the brother of Omar Khadr, who, as WorldNetDaily first reported exclusively, is accused of killing...

(IsraelNN.com) Two of the five terrorists who planned to carry out a twin suicide bombing in Jerusalem Thursday recently were released from prison. Hamza Hassin Brigia, who lives near Bethlehem and was responsible for the Islamic Jihad infrastructure in Bethlehem, was released from administrative detention last February. Muhanad Abu Romy was recently released after having been jailed for buying weapons from Islamic Jihad terrorists. The terrorists had placed the explosives in cardboard boxes and put them inside bags with shrapnel and nails in order to increase bodily injury. One of the arguments against freeing more jailed terrorists and prisoners is...

An amateur bomb-maker in Suffolk County is in police custody this morning after testing the explosions in his back yard. Police charged 28-year-old Robert Rotella of Shore Manor with criminal weapons possession after they were told he accepted delivery of chemicals that were used to make explosives. He was arraigned yesterday in First District Court in Islip and released on his own recognizance. Rotella's neighbors simply said he is no threat to national security and that he makes fireworks for fun.

Bush, Cheney tax returns released (White House-AP) April 15, 2005 - President Bush and first lady Laura Bush earned less from their investments last year, and they also paid less in taxes. The first couple's 2004 federal income tax return indicates reported adjusted gross income of just over $784,000. That compares to more than $822,000 in 2003. The earnings include the president's salary and income from investments held in blind trust. The Bushes paid more than $207,000 in federal taxes, or about $20,000 less than in 2003. They also donated nearly $78,000 to churches and other nonprofit groups. Vice President...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - A U.N. panel critical of how the U.S.-led coalition authority in Iraq spent billions of dollars from the U.N. oil-for-food program and other sales of Iraqi oil will issue its report Monday, an official with the world body said. The U.N. Security Council set up the Iraqi Development Fund to help the U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority administer Iraq. The CPA administered Iraq from March 20, 2003, invasion to its dissolution June 28, 2004, when it handed the reins to the Iraqi interim government. The development fund consisted of money from CPA sales of Iraqi oil, millions...

A young San Bernardino couple is going public with questions about supermodel Gisele Bundchen's "no questions asked" $5000.00 reward offer, which remains unpaid more than two weeks after the couple returned Bundchen's dog only to be arrested at gunpoint, handcuffed and held in custody. Although cleared by the police, the couple has no explanation from Bundchen of why they were treated like criminals and denied the reward. Hollywood, CA (PRWEB) December 10, 2004 -- Supermodel Gisele Bundchen’s “no questions asked” $5000.00 reward offer for her lost dog just before Thanksgiving, may have gotten her dog back, but, according to the...

NEW YORK — Pepper spray (search) was released inside an elevator at Toys R Us' crowded flagship store Saturday, sending at least three people to the hospital and leaving others with irritated eyes, fire and police spokesmen said.Police were reviewing video camera footage to find out who discharged the spray at the toy chain's Times Square (search) store during the busy shopping weekend. The store was not evacuated, and within a few hours it was packed with shoppers who were unaware of the incident.It was unclear how many shoppers were affected. Firefighter Kevin Nolan said five people were taken to St. Vincent's...

RAPPER Eminem’s new album Encore has been leaked on to the internet. The Real Slim Shady star’s hotly-anticipated fourth album was stolen nearly two weeks before its release date. The theft has sparked panic at his record label Interscope who have brought forward the worldwide release date. An illegal website called RNS put the entire album on the net two days ago. Thousands of fans instantly downloaded it and could pass it on to countless others. It could lose the 32-year-old rapper MILLIONS of pounds in royalties from CD sales. Interscope bosses were locked in meetings all day yesterday. They...

On Monday, December 8, 2003, President Bush signed into law a Medicare prescription drug benefits package designed to help American seniors pay for their medications. This month, the Kerry campaign released a TV ad attacking President Bush’s Medicare record stating, “The very next day George Bush imposes the biggest Medicare premium increase in history while prescription drug costs still skyrocket.” There are several problems with this ad, namely that fact that 1) Kerry skipped the December 8 vote and 2) Kerry voted to support the increase in Medicare premiums that he now criticizes. The Kerry campaign offers no specifics on...