t r u t h o u t

Feature

Bush Administration Does Not Rule Out "Pre-Emptive" Pardons

by: Charlie Savage, The New York Times

President Bush attends a turkey-pardoning ceremony on Thanksgiving in 2006. In the next few months, the Bush administration will decide whether to grant pre-emptive pardons to officials involved in questionable "counterterrorism" practices, to ensure that those officials will not be vulnerable to prosecution under future administrations. (Photo: whitehouse.gov)

Washington - Felons are asking President Bush for pardons and commutations at historic levels as he nears his final months in office, a time when many other presidents have granted a flurry of clemency requests. Among the petitioners is Michael Milken, the billionaire former junk bond king turned philanthropist, who is seeking a pardon for his 1990 conviction for securities fraud, the Justice Department said. Mr. Milken sought a pardon eight years ago »

Privacy vs. Border Security: Critics Say Laptop Searches Cross the Line

by: Janet I. Tu, The Seattle Times

Diverse groups, including Muslim associations, law firms and corporate and technology organizations, increasingly are concerned about the search and seizure of laptops and other electronic devices at borders, saying such scrutiny raises privacy issues and could compromise lawyer-client privilege and corporate confidentiality.

Jawad Khaki, a corporate executive from Sammamish, was returning home from a business trip to Ireland and Germany last year when a customs agent at the »

Rising Food Prices Pushing East Africa to Disaster, Warns Oxfam

by: Xan Rice, The Guardian UK

Nairobi - More than 14 million people in the east Africa region require urgent food aid due to drought and spiralling cereal and fuel prices, aid agencies say.

In an emergency appeal launched today, Oxfam warns that millions of people in Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Djibouti and Kenya are fast being pushed "towards severe hunger and destitution". Earlier this week the UN said it needed £200m to avert a humanitarian disaster.