Day December 20, 2004

Public denunciation of torture not reflective of interrogation techniques, security officials say Numerous unidentified national security officials have described the U.S.’s public denunciation of torture as inconsistent with the government’s actual practice, The Washington Post reported Thursday. “If you don’t…

A former Grateful Dead songwriter who was ejected from a plane in 2003 after airport officials found drugs and paraphernalia in his luggage has become the latest litigant to seek information about the Transportation Security Administration’s secret policies on screening…

Shia leaders blame Iraqi bombings on Sunni militants. The attacks in the sacred Shia cities of Najaf and Kerbala came just over an hour apart and left at least 60 people dead and more than 120 wounded. “Trying to ignite?”…

The pressure on the beleaguered US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, intensified yesterday and threatened to taint his main supporter in Washington, George Bush. David Hackworth, a retired US army colonel turned writer, reported that Mr Rumsfeld had used a mechanical…

The Australian government “has distanced itself for the first time from the United States’ hardline attempts to stall international action on global warming.” The Environment Minister, Ian Campbell, has made a point of spelling out key differences with the US…