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Jordan has agreed to demands from ISIS that it release a female jihadist held since 2006, in a move that could free a Jordanian pilot captured in Syria last month and possibly a Japanese journalist who pleaded for his life in a video released by the terror group on Tuesday. Jordanian government spokesman Mohammed al-Momani said in a statement the nation was prepared to free Sajida al-Rishawi, who was convicted of taking part in a deadly hotel bombing, if the Jordanian pilot, Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, is released unharmed. His comments were carried by Jordan's official Petra news agency. Although he...

The Obama administration has confirmed reports that Cuba has released all 53 political prisoners that it promised to free as part of the deal to re-establish diplomatic relations with the United States. “The Cuban Government has notified us that they have completed the release of the 53 political prisoners that they had committed to free. We welcome this very positive development and are pleased that the Cuban government followed through on this commitment,” National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said in a statement. “Our Interests Section in Havana was able to verify these releases. These political prisoners were individuals who...

Washington - A White House official on Wednesday denied that the Cuban government was resisting freeing some of the 53 people listed for release as part of a thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations on the grounds they had been linked to violence. The denial followed a report on Wednesday by Reuters citing a congressional aide who said that "we´ve been told that the Cuban government has agreed to release all but several of the political prisoners on the list." "This is not true, we have not heard any such thing from the Cubans, we fully expect all 53 to be released,"...

Behold, the superior negotiating powers of President Barack Obama: State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki repeatedly refused to answer questions this afternoon about the 53 political detainees Cuba promised to release as part of a deal with President Obama to normalize relations with the United States.When asked about a lack of transparency in the prisoner exchange process, Psaki said, “Well, we know who’s on there. And the Cuban government knows who’s on there.” …After Psaki stated that she had no updates to provide, a befuddled Matt Lee asked, “Hold on — hold on a second. Can we — I mean,...

Representative Tim Walz's republican challenger, Jim Hagedorn, is accusing Walz of wanting to move Al Qaeda prisoners to Rochester. Hagedorn talked to the media outside Federal Medical Center in Rochester on Thursday. He said Representative Walz voted to close the Guantanamo Bay Prison and supports transferring what Hagedorn calls the worst Islamic terrorists on the planet into the US. Hagedorn goes on to say that Walz is open to bringing some of those prisoners to FMC in Rochester. "The people of Southeast Minnesota, the people of Rochester, are protected by the Islamic terrorists in Guantanamo bay by 1,875 miles, an...

Maricopa County was spending approx. $18 million dollars a year on stray animals, like cats and dogs. Sheriff Joe offered to take the department over, and the County Supervisors said okay. The animal shelters are now all staffed and operated by prisoners. They feed and care for the strays. Every animal in his care is taken out and walked twice daily. He now has prisoners who are experts in animal nutrition and behavior. They give great classes for anyone who’d like to adopt an animal. He has literally taken stray dogs off the street, given them to the care of...

Jawad Boulos, head of the legal department at the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, said that the prisoners have threatened that all political prisoners will join together in a large-scale hunger strike if Israel does not change its position on the newly passed ‘Life without Parole’ bill. At the end of his visit in the “Gilboa” Detention Center, Boulos said that the political prisoners, some of whom are already on a hunger strike, have said the strike would go on without limitations. ...

President Barack Obama is moving ahead with his push to close the Guantanamo Bay prison despite the uproar over the exchange of five Taliban prisoners for a captured American soldier, an administration official said Thursday. The Periodic Review Board has determined that more former 'forever prisoners,' including one who says he has been reformed by practicing yoga and another who was a bodyguard for Bin Laden but now wants to start a 'milk and honey farm' are fit for release to their homelands or repatriation. Ghaleb Nasser al Bihani, 35, told a parole board in April that he had read...

This weekend, Obama swapped five dangerous Taliban commanders for one questionable American soldier. The five Taliban commanders are: Mullah Mohammad Fazl (Taliban army chief of staff), Mullah Norullah Noori (senior Taliban military commander), Abdul Haq Wasiq (Taliban deputy minister of intelligence), Khairullah Khairkhwa (Taliban governor of the Herat province and former interior minister), and Mohammed Nabi (senior Taliban figure and security official). In return, we got one America soldier who, his peers write, abandoned his post to join the Taliban, and who's Islamic-beard-adorned father has worked tirelessly to release more terrorists. Immediately after this, we have Hagel and Rice 'gaslighting'...

I remember the written response of the senior doctor in the prison in which I worked to an editorial in the British Medical Journal lamenting the difference between health care in prison and health care in the “community.” Yes, he replied, where else in the country but in prison could everyone get to see a doctor within an hour of complaining of something?I thought of this as I read an article recently in the New England Journal of Medicine about Hepatitis C infection and the American correctional system.About 3 million Americans are infected with the Hepatitis C virus, mainly because...

WASHINGTON — Prisoners should be provided free education in order to reduce crime and recidivism, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich declared at a gathering of conservative advocates of prison reform. Right on Crime, a Texas-based coalition of conservative public figures and elected officials, had a two day Leadership Summit at the Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center Tuesday and Wednesday. Newt Gingrich gave remarks at the Wednesday morning session, describing some of the needs he believed had to be met for meaningful prison reform. While still supportive of the early 1990's "war on crime" measures championed by...

ODESSA, Ukraine — Hundreds of pro-Russian activists attacked a police station in this southern port city, forcing open its gate and breaking windows. The prison is holding dozens of those arrested after the unrest here on Friday. Hundreds of activists surrounded the building and called for the release of their detained comrades. "Russians won't abandon their own!" the militants chanted as they smashed windows and broke down the gate at the compound. Others shouted "Russia! Russia!" and "we will not forgive!" About 20 to 30 people were allowed to leave the prison, NBC News confirmed, although local reports said nearly...

ANGOLA, La. – They're often thrown like rag dolls or risk being gored by bucking bulls and broncos. But in those few seconds in the spotlight of the rodeo, they are part of the world again. Some of Louisiana's most violent criminals are the stars of the Angola Prison Rodeo, the nation's longest-running prison rodeo that this year celebrates 50 years. The event has grown from a small "fun" event for prisoners into big business, with proceeds going into the Louisiana State Penitentiary Inmate Welfare Fund for inmate education and recreational supplies.

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration often touts that people with pre-existing conditions and countless others can now get covered under ObamaCare. But there's another group that's starting to benefit from the law -- prison inmates. Cash-strapped state and local prisons increasingly are using the Affordable Care Act to pay for their inmates' medical costs, taking advantage of a little-known provision that lets them shift some of those expenses to the federal government. Ohio, Illinois and Iowa are among the states trying to offload the rising costs of health care – which include mental health programs – by enrolling inmates into...

The Obama administration will attempt to resume talks with the Taliban to free the only known American soldier in captivity in exchange for the release of Taliban prisoners held at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The move is an attempt to free Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl before the majority of US forces leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014, the report in the Washington Post said, citing current and former officials. The swap would trade Bergdahl for five Taliban members who would be released from Guantanamo Bay into protective custody in Qatar, the Post reported.

Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) has recently translated interviews with released terrorists and their families broadcasted on official Palestinian Authority (PA) TV. The interviews reveal that the terrorists have no regrets, lived a life of ease in jail, and had easy access for familial visits. The televised testimony contrasts sharply with PA libel claiming prisoners suffer harsh conditions and their families have a hard time seeing them. In 2010, PA government supervisor of prisoners Issa Keraka called for an international investigation of Israeli "violations" against PA prisoners. The interviews came after the second batch of 26 terrorists was released on October...

Peace is not possible so long as there is even one terrorist prisoner still in an Israeli prison, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas declared on Tuesday night. According to Kol Yisrael radio, Abbas made the comments in a welcoming ceremony for 21 Palestinian Authority Arab terrorists who had been released from Israeli jails as a gesture to Abbas. Abbas added, the report said, that the PA would continue its efforts to ensure that all terrorists serving time in Israeli jails are freed. "All 104 prisoners [that Israel has agreed to release] will be released, but the real joy will only...

A ministerial committee headed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday approved the list of 26 Palestinian prisoners to be released in the second stage of Israel's commitment to the Palestinian Authority to resume peace negotiations. The names of the pre-Oslo prisoners were expected to be published later Sunday night. Earlier Sunday, a bill sponsored by the Bayit Yehudi Party to ban future Palestinian prisoners release failed to pass the Legislative Ministerial Committee by an eight-to-five vote, as a separate panel prepares this evening to approve such a release.

Employees at federal prisons aren’t able to collect a paycheck during the government shutdown, even though the inmates they are overseeing are being paid. A group of 100 guards at a federal prison camp in Yankton, S.D., still have to work in order to “protect human life and property,” but will have to trust the government to make good on their promise to retroactively pay them. In a cruel twist, the criminals locked up in the facility are still receiving their money for services rendered while they are in custody because there is a different funding tier for the prisoners’...

Iran released eight political prisoners on Wednesday in a diplomatic move that could pave the way for a face-to-face meeting with Obama administration officials. The White House has said there are “currently no plans” for President Obama to meet his Iranian counterpart at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Other top officials might run into each other, however, which would mark the resumption of direct U.S.-Iranian contacts for the first time since diplomatic relations were cut in 1980.