GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - Witnesses are expected to take the stand Thursday for the first time since the U.S. government began trying to prosecute terrorism suspects at Guantanamo.
Prosecutors are expected to present about five witnesses to back their case that Salim Ahmed Hamdan — a former driver for Osama bin Laden — should be charged as an unlawful enemy combatant, in the second day of pretrial hearings to determine whether the military tribunal at this isolated Navy base has jurisdiction over the case.
An expert in Middle Eastern affairs is expected to testify to support a defense argument that Hamdan could have been bin Laden's driver without being a hardcore al-Qaida member with knowledge of terrorist attacks.
"This will be the first time you will hear about some of the evidence that the government has had and wanted to present," said Army Maj. Bobby Don Gifford, a spokesman for the military commissions.
On Wednesday, a military judge rejected a defense request to talk to the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and two other so-called "high value" detainees to bolster their case that Hamdan was at best a minor al-Qaida figure.
That decision came the same day the Supreme Court debated — for the third time since 2004 — the rights of foreign terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay.
At the hearing in Guantanamo, civilian defense attorney Harry Schneider told reporters that he had hoped that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the two other high-value detainees held at this isolated U.S. military base could establish that their client was not a terrorist.
"People who were actively involved unquestionably are in a much better position than me or you or anyone else in this room ... to say what Mr. Hamdan was," Schneider said.
In denying the request at least for now, the judge in the case, Navy Capt. Keith Allred, said more time would be needed to overcome the "security obstacles" posed by meeting with men accused of some of the world's most notorious terrorist attacks.
Hamdan's lawyers wanted to show he does not meet the definition of an unlawful enemy combatant and is therefore not eligible to be prosecuted by a military tribunal. Allred did not make a ruling on that issue but could do so as early as Thursday, when the hearing continues.
John Murphy, a civilian prosecutor from the Department of Justice, dismissed the defense's justification for the interviews with the high-value detainees as a fishing expedition.
"You need a showing that it is relevant and necessary. Mere hoped-for evidence gathering is not enough," Murphy told the judge.
The judge, however, did allow the defense to immediately interview another detainee, Abdu al-Sharqawi, an alleged al-Qaida operative known as "Riyadh the facilitator," who is not considered high-value. The defense may present statements from him at Thursday's court session.
Allred said the defense also could speak with a prisoner who was captured with Hamdan in Afghanistan, but the man's lawyer has said he will refuse to testify without a grant of immunity from prosecution from the military authority overseeing the tribunals.
Hamdan has been charged with conspiracy and supporting terrorism and faces up to life in prison if convicted. He came to court in a flowing white robe and a grey-checkered sports coat, and smiled when technical difficulties with a translation system delayed the proceedings.
Hamdan has been in custody nearly six years and was first charged more than three years ago. But his prosecution has been delayed by legal challenges, including one he filed that went to the Supreme Court and resulted in the striking down last year of the original rules for military tribunals.
Congress and President Bush responded with the Military Commissions Act, which stripped all detainees of the right to challenge their detention in a civilian court — the focus of Wednesday's Supreme Court hearing.
Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann, the legal adviser to the military tribunal system, said the timing of the hearings in Guantanamo and Washington was coincidental.
The U.S. holds about 305 prisoners on suspicion of terrorism or links to al-Qaida and the Taliban at Guantanamo and plans to prosecute about 80, including the alleged architect of the Sept. 11 attacks. So far, only three detainees have been formally charged and one, Australian David Hicks, was convicted in a plea bargain and sent home.
Hamdan's defense team argues that he should be considered an enemy prisoner of war who would be entitled to the same rights as a captured U.S. service member and a court martial — a legal system that critics of the government's tribunal system say has more legal protections for defendants.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Bad breath beware
By Julie Steenhuysen
CHICAGO (Reuters Life!) - Adding a pinch of magnolia bark to mints or gum can eliminate bad breath by killing most odor-causing germs, U.S. researchers reported Wednesday.
Most bad breath occurs when bacteria in the mouth break down proteins, producing foul-smelling sulfur compounds. But many anti-bacterial agents cause nasty side effects like tooth staining, making them impractical for oral care.
Magnolia bark extract -- a traditional Chinese medicine used to treat fever, headache and stress -- has proven effective against germs that cause ulcers, and recent studies have shown it has low toxicity and few side effects.
Scientists at chewing gum maker Wm Wrigley Jr Co wanted to see if it could kill halitosis-causing bacteria, and if it could be used in a gum or mint.
Researchers Minmin Tan and colleagues, reporting in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, tested magnolia bark's germ-killing ability in a Wrigley lab.
They found it highly effective against three types of oral microorganisms, killing 99.9 percent of bad breath bacteria within five minutes.
Tests on nine healthy Wrigley employees who chewed mints and gum containing the bark after lunch produced less dramatic but still potent effects.
The mints killed off more than 61 percent of the germs that cause bad breath within 30 minutes -- comparable to some commercial mouthwashes. Mints without the extract were only 3.6 percent effective.
The gum didn't work as well, reducing oral bacteria by 43 percent within 40 minutes, compared with an 18 percent reduction in gum with no extract.
The extract also helped kill a group of bacteria that causes tooth decay.
"Because bacteria are the major cause of breath odor, products containing effective germ-kill compounds will provide a long-lasting reduction of oral malodor," the researchers wrote.
But don't expect it in stores any time soon.
"It's a long way from scientific research to a commercializable product, and there's a lot of perils and pitfalls along the way," said Wrigley spokesman Chris Perille.
CHICAGO (Reuters Life!) - Adding a pinch of magnolia bark to mints or gum can eliminate bad breath by killing most odor-causing germs, U.S. researchers reported Wednesday.
Most bad breath occurs when bacteria in the mouth break down proteins, producing foul-smelling sulfur compounds. But many anti-bacterial agents cause nasty side effects like tooth staining, making them impractical for oral care.
Magnolia bark extract -- a traditional Chinese medicine used to treat fever, headache and stress -- has proven effective against germs that cause ulcers, and recent studies have shown it has low toxicity and few side effects.
Scientists at chewing gum maker Wm Wrigley Jr Co wanted to see if it could kill halitosis-causing bacteria, and if it could be used in a gum or mint.
Researchers Minmin Tan and colleagues, reporting in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, tested magnolia bark's germ-killing ability in a Wrigley lab.
They found it highly effective against three types of oral microorganisms, killing 99.9 percent of bad breath bacteria within five minutes.
Tests on nine healthy Wrigley employees who chewed mints and gum containing the bark after lunch produced less dramatic but still potent effects.
The mints killed off more than 61 percent of the germs that cause bad breath within 30 minutes -- comparable to some commercial mouthwashes. Mints without the extract were only 3.6 percent effective.
The gum didn't work as well, reducing oral bacteria by 43 percent within 40 minutes, compared with an 18 percent reduction in gum with no extract.
The extract also helped kill a group of bacteria that causes tooth decay.
"Because bacteria are the major cause of breath odor, products containing effective germ-kill compounds will provide a long-lasting reduction of oral malodor," the researchers wrote.
But don't expect it in stores any time soon.
"It's a long way from scientific research to a commercializable product, and there's a lot of perils and pitfalls along the way," said Wrigley spokesman Chris Perille.
Girl, 15, says she was forced to have sex with inmates
(CNN) -- The Brazilian government is investigating the case of a 15-year-old girl who allegedly was raped and tortured after being put in a prison cell with 20 male inmates, officials said.
The girl -- who said she was forced to have sex for food and suffered burns and other abuse -- has denounced police in the small town of Abaetetuba for keeping her in the cell.
She is now in a witness protection program.
The case has sparked outrage among human rights groups as well as government officials.
"This is a shame, a shame in the whole system," said Claudio Puty, chief of staff for the governor's office in Para, one of the largest states in Brazil.
"There is a total collapse in the jail system in Brazil, but this is no excuse for them to wash their hands and do nothing," he said. "We are doing all we can to punish these policemen."
The victim -- who has been identified only by her initials, L.A.B. -- was jailed for attempted theft, and was sent to a police station in Abaetetuba, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the provincial capital of Belem, according to the O Liberal newspaper.
She remained in custody for about three weeks.
After receiving an anonymous phone call, two social workers tried to visit the girl in jail, but police barred them from doing so, the newspaper reported.
One of them, Maria Imaculada, told O Liberal the young woman was courageous and talked to them in front of several policemen.
In testimony before a tribunal, the girl told authorities she asked to speak to her relatives, but the police never responded, O Liberal reported, citing court documents. She testified that when she was forced into a bathroom, "I screamed and screamed, but to no avail," the report said.
The girl's father, who is also in a witness protection program, told reporters police asked him to forge the girl's birth certificate, but he refused. He said police threatened him and even questioned his paternity rights.
"She was humiliated and sexually assaulted in an Abaetetuba cell by those who should be defending her rights," he told O Liberal.
The Brazilian government has sent two commissions to investigate. Since the case made national headlines, other cases of women being sent to male prison cells have surfaced.
"What we are seeing here is endemic," Tim Cahill of Amnesty International said.
Human rights groups and more than 16 local associations are planning a large protest this Sunday, the international Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
The girl -- who said she was forced to have sex for food and suffered burns and other abuse -- has denounced police in the small town of Abaetetuba for keeping her in the cell.
She is now in a witness protection program.
The case has sparked outrage among human rights groups as well as government officials.
"This is a shame, a shame in the whole system," said Claudio Puty, chief of staff for the governor's office in Para, one of the largest states in Brazil.
"There is a total collapse in the jail system in Brazil, but this is no excuse for them to wash their hands and do nothing," he said. "We are doing all we can to punish these policemen."
The victim -- who has been identified only by her initials, L.A.B. -- was jailed for attempted theft, and was sent to a police station in Abaetetuba, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the provincial capital of Belem, according to the O Liberal newspaper.
She remained in custody for about three weeks.
After receiving an anonymous phone call, two social workers tried to visit the girl in jail, but police barred them from doing so, the newspaper reported.
One of them, Maria Imaculada, told O Liberal the young woman was courageous and talked to them in front of several policemen.
In testimony before a tribunal, the girl told authorities she asked to speak to her relatives, but the police never responded, O Liberal reported, citing court documents. She testified that when she was forced into a bathroom, "I screamed and screamed, but to no avail," the report said.
The girl's father, who is also in a witness protection program, told reporters police asked him to forge the girl's birth certificate, but he refused. He said police threatened him and even questioned his paternity rights.
"She was humiliated and sexually assaulted in an Abaetetuba cell by those who should be defending her rights," he told O Liberal.
The Brazilian government has sent two commissions to investigate. Since the case made national headlines, other cases of women being sent to male prison cells have surfaced.
"What we are seeing here is endemic," Tim Cahill of Amnesty International said.
Human rights groups and more than 16 local associations are planning a large protest this Sunday, the international Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Watch your kids online
By Naomi Kim
TORONTO (Reuters Life!) - Filters, round-the-clock monitoring and even fingerprint log-in won't stop determined adults from accessing children's Internet sites, and it's up to parents to monitor what their kids do online, according to Toronto police's world-famous sex crimes unit.
"They're steps in the right direction, but I think a great system can still be beat," said Detective Sgt. Kimberly Scanlan, who heads the child exploitation section of the unit.
"I like safety features but I just know the minds of sexual predators and they're so well-versed. They spend so much time on the computer and they'll study the new technology and they'll always just find a way around it. It's not foolproof."
Social networking sites billing themselves as secure for kids as young as six, include virtual worlds such as Club Penguin (http://www.clubpenguin.com/), which promises kid-friendly chat in a "moderated environment".
Club Penguin, which has reached Facebook status among the preteen set, has conversation filters that include a block on inappropriate language as well as the "ultimate safe chat" setting where only predefined phrases can be used.
Anne's Diary, inspired by the main character from the L.M. Montgomery "Anne of Green Gables" books, uses a fingerprint authentication reader and says it sets "new standards in online safety".
But Scanlan said technology alone is not enough.
"Parents still have to remain vigilant and they have to give (children) the tools and remain in communication with them... You have to always be talking with them. It's not a one-time conversation about Internet safety," she said
"And it's about giving the children the tools to keep them safe ... they need strong self-esteem, they need to know that they're cared for and loved, they need to know that someone's interested in what they're doing."
Scanlan said that even straightforward filters can also be suspect if parents fail to use them, or children find a way around them.
The Sex Crimes Unit of the Toronto Police Service has been recognized globally for its work.
In 2005, the unit's child exploitation branch made headlines when it digitally removed the image of a young victim from a sexually exploitative photograph on the Internet.
It then released the photo in a public appeal for tips on the girl's whereabouts. The location of the photograph was determined, and the girl and her abuser, her adoptive father, were later identified.
"We'd never say we're 100 percent safe, but we're a lot safer than anything that's out there right now," said Emily Want, chief executive of Logica Holdings' Anne's World, the company behind the Anne's Diary site.
"Parents definitely have to be involved. They can't be standing over their kid's shoulder the whole time, but they should have a good idea of what sites they're on."
TORONTO (Reuters Life!) - Filters, round-the-clock monitoring and even fingerprint log-in won't stop determined adults from accessing children's Internet sites, and it's up to parents to monitor what their kids do online, according to Toronto police's world-famous sex crimes unit.
"They're steps in the right direction, but I think a great system can still be beat," said Detective Sgt. Kimberly Scanlan, who heads the child exploitation section of the unit.
"I like safety features but I just know the minds of sexual predators and they're so well-versed. They spend so much time on the computer and they'll study the new technology and they'll always just find a way around it. It's not foolproof."
Social networking sites billing themselves as secure for kids as young as six, include virtual worlds such as Club Penguin (http://www.clubpenguin.com/), which promises kid-friendly chat in a "moderated environment".
Club Penguin, which has reached Facebook status among the preteen set, has conversation filters that include a block on inappropriate language as well as the "ultimate safe chat" setting where only predefined phrases can be used.
Anne's Diary, inspired by the main character from the L.M. Montgomery "Anne of Green Gables" books, uses a fingerprint authentication reader and says it sets "new standards in online safety".
But Scanlan said technology alone is not enough.
"Parents still have to remain vigilant and they have to give (children) the tools and remain in communication with them... You have to always be talking with them. It's not a one-time conversation about Internet safety," she said
"And it's about giving the children the tools to keep them safe ... they need strong self-esteem, they need to know that they're cared for and loved, they need to know that someone's interested in what they're doing."
Scanlan said that even straightforward filters can also be suspect if parents fail to use them, or children find a way around them.
The Sex Crimes Unit of the Toronto Police Service has been recognized globally for its work.
In 2005, the unit's child exploitation branch made headlines when it digitally removed the image of a young victim from a sexually exploitative photograph on the Internet.
It then released the photo in a public appeal for tips on the girl's whereabouts. The location of the photograph was determined, and the girl and her abuser, her adoptive father, were later identified.
"We'd never say we're 100 percent safe, but we're a lot safer than anything that's out there right now," said Emily Want, chief executive of Logica Holdings' Anne's World, the company behind the Anne's Diary site.
"Parents definitely have to be involved. They can't be standing over their kid's shoulder the whole time, but they should have a good idea of what sites they're on."
Violent films not as 'Untouchable'
By KRISTOPHER TAPLEY
As the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences becomes a younger voting body with each passing year, some awards analysts feel that violence in weighty, serious Oscar contenders might not be the drawback it once was. It may actually be a selling point.
"American Gangster," "3:10 to Yuma," "Eastern Promises," "No Country for Old Men" and "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" represent a handful of 2007 films with violence -- sometimes lots of violence -- on display. All are expected by insiders to be fixtures in the upcoming awards season, but that notion seems to fly in the face of conventional wisdom regarding the Academy's typical voting practices.
Oscar watchers have some theories about violence in campaigning movies.
David Carr is a film reporter for the New York Times who edits the Gray Lady's Oscar blog "The Carpetbagger." He says that though Academy demographics can lean toward the conservative when it comes to voting, that didn't stop violent films like "The Departed" and "Braveheart" from succeeding in their respective years. Sometimes, he says, it has everything to do with how violence is conveyed.
"There's a tendency in important films to aestheticize the violence so you can't resist it," he says. " 'No Country for Old Men' does that. You have a villain there (Anton Chigurh, portrayed by Javier Bardem) who is going to enter the pantheon right behind Hannibal Lecter. And '300' is the ultimate in succumbing to the visual seductions of violence. I really couldn't look away from that film."
Still, after David Cronenberg's "A History of Violence" landed nominations in 2005 for picture and director with the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.'s Golden Globe awards, the Academy didn't follow suit, although the film nabbed a supporting actor nom for William Hurt and one for adapted screenplay. Perhaps there is a line out there as to what is accepted and what isn't.
Sasha Stone, editor of the buzz-collecting website AwardsDaily.com, says filmmakers like Cronenberg can be quickly stigmatized by the Academy when they deal in what she calls "perverse violence." "There's violence and then there's violence," she says. "Once it becomes really, truly disturbing, they tend to recoil. But on the other hand, we're seeing things on television today that we never would have seen 10 years ago. And because of the way our society is built, we actually censor sex more than we do violence."
Not the best of news for Ang Lee's racy "Lust, Caution."
Dave Karger, Entertainment Weekly's resident Oscar expert, makes the argument that, with violence, it takes more than seduction to attract the Academy, or repulsiveness to turn it off.
"I feel like the Academy is willing to endorse a violent movie if the violence is speaking to a greater issue," he says. "If it's speaking explicitly to something, like the war in Iraq, that doesn't seem to be working. But allegorical violence works for them."
Indeed, Clint Eastwood's Oscar-winning "Unforgiven" was an anti-violence film cloaked in the disguise of a blood-letting Western. So it goes that violence might be penetrating the rank-and-file membership of the Academy more so than in years past simply because it has become another accepted tool in the filmmaker's work shed. No one expects to see "Saw IV" or "Hostel II" showing up in the Oscar race, but as serious filmmakers continue to find artistry in depictions of violence, the Academy is sure to continue taking the bait.
As the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences becomes a younger voting body with each passing year, some awards analysts feel that violence in weighty, serious Oscar contenders might not be the drawback it once was. It may actually be a selling point.
"American Gangster," "3:10 to Yuma," "Eastern Promises," "No Country for Old Men" and "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" represent a handful of 2007 films with violence -- sometimes lots of violence -- on display. All are expected by insiders to be fixtures in the upcoming awards season, but that notion seems to fly in the face of conventional wisdom regarding the Academy's typical voting practices.
Oscar watchers have some theories about violence in campaigning movies.
David Carr is a film reporter for the New York Times who edits the Gray Lady's Oscar blog "The Carpetbagger." He says that though Academy demographics can lean toward the conservative when it comes to voting, that didn't stop violent films like "The Departed" and "Braveheart" from succeeding in their respective years. Sometimes, he says, it has everything to do with how violence is conveyed.
"There's a tendency in important films to aestheticize the violence so you can't resist it," he says. " 'No Country for Old Men' does that. You have a villain there (Anton Chigurh, portrayed by Javier Bardem) who is going to enter the pantheon right behind Hannibal Lecter. And '300' is the ultimate in succumbing to the visual seductions of violence. I really couldn't look away from that film."
Still, after David Cronenberg's "A History of Violence" landed nominations in 2005 for picture and director with the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.'s Golden Globe awards, the Academy didn't follow suit, although the film nabbed a supporting actor nom for William Hurt and one for adapted screenplay. Perhaps there is a line out there as to what is accepted and what isn't.
Sasha Stone, editor of the buzz-collecting website AwardsDaily.com, says filmmakers like Cronenberg can be quickly stigmatized by the Academy when they deal in what she calls "perverse violence." "There's violence and then there's violence," she says. "Once it becomes really, truly disturbing, they tend to recoil. But on the other hand, we're seeing things on television today that we never would have seen 10 years ago. And because of the way our society is built, we actually censor sex more than we do violence."
Not the best of news for Ang Lee's racy "Lust, Caution."
Dave Karger, Entertainment Weekly's resident Oscar expert, makes the argument that, with violence, it takes more than seduction to attract the Academy, or repulsiveness to turn it off.
"I feel like the Academy is willing to endorse a violent movie if the violence is speaking to a greater issue," he says. "If it's speaking explicitly to something, like the war in Iraq, that doesn't seem to be working. But allegorical violence works for them."
Indeed, Clint Eastwood's Oscar-winning "Unforgiven" was an anti-violence film cloaked in the disguise of a blood-letting Western. So it goes that violence might be penetrating the rank-and-file membership of the Academy more so than in years past simply because it has become another accepted tool in the filmmaker's work shed. No one expects to see "Saw IV" or "Hostel II" showing up in the Oscar race, but as serious filmmakers continue to find artistry in depictions of violence, the Academy is sure to continue taking the bait.
Televisa seasons with U.S. flavor
MexicoBy MICHAEL SCOTT O'BOYLE
MEXICO CITY -- After years of toying with the idea of producing U.S.-style series, Mexican media conglom Televisa will be showing off its first efforts this year at Mip.
Televisa is preparing to air four of its new series on different weeknights at 10 p.m., including "S.O.S." (a Mexican "Sex and the City"), "Thirteen Fears" (a suspense-horror series produced by indie shingle Lemon Films and shot on film) and "RBD: The Family" (a series based on hit telenovela "Rebelde" and starring teen music group phenom RBD).
"This is our big bet this year," says Televisa programming veep Alberto Ciurana. "The series have very high production values."
Move is part of web's efforts to boost ratings among 18-to-34-year-olds, who are often left cold by the telenovela and variety show programming on its flagship Channel 2.
As of January, Televisa completely revamped the grid of Channel 5, its main channel for imported product, replacing two hours of U.S. series per night with a block of U.S. skeins running from 4 p.m. until midnight. Ciurana says the new block boosted ratings more than 18%.
Ciurana says the success of the new U.S. series would give a boost to its own skeins when it bows them within the block in May.
Having steady output deals with major Hollywood studios, Ciurana isn't prowling for much new product at Mip. Televisa will tout its latest hit telenovelas as it marks 50 years producing the format.
Meanwhile, Televisa's smaller rival, TV Azteca, expects its foreign sales to double this year, says VP of international sales Marcel Vinay. Azteca holds the international rights to double the hours of telenovelas this year, after relying on scripts from Argentina and Colombia during 2006.
But Vinay warns the market for finished telenovelas is getting tighter. More territories that were once telenovela dumping grounds, like Russia and the former Eastern bloc, produce more of their own content.
Programmers finding it fun to go young
Czech RepublicBy WILL TIZARD
PRAGUE -- The Czech Republic's top terrestrial, TV Nova, is stronger than ever in ratings, with the country's three highest-rated nonnews shows in its stable.
But for the first time in years, one of them is a foreign buy: "CSI: Las Vegas," which sits comfortably at the No. 3 spot.
Show has aud shares that have touched nearly 60% among 15-to-54-year-olds, says the station's programming head, David Stogel.
"Last year, we canceled lots of Saturday-night entertainment shows," Stogel says, retiring these variety evenings that skewed toward older auds. "The brand of Nova is much more geared to young audiences."
Grayer viewers are more likely to settle on pubcaster Czech TV as it phases out commercials, which state regulators are reducing to zero by 2008.
Aside from the increased ad revenue that this brings to Nova and smaller rival Prima, the transformation gives the commercial stations a stronger selling point.
Locally produced scripted dramas are doing well and act as warm-ups to the "CSI" franchise on Nova, which airs at 9 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, followed by another local success, "Tele Tele," a Czech sketch-comedy half-hour.
Local reality adaptations are also hits, such as Nova's "112," based on the "Rescue 911" formula. The station is currently pushing "Bailando: I Dance for You," in which local celebs work up dance routines with ordinary people to win things like a needed operation for a relative.
With so many hits, Nova can afford to be choosy at Mip, but Stogel adds that the network is " always looking for good new products in either the entertainment area or scripted drama."
For its part, Prima has just hired away a Barrandov film exec, Peter Chajda, who says the station needs "significant work" in developing original shows and building its image.
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