The UK's national terrorism threat level has been raised to "critical" after attacks in Glasgow and London. Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged the public to be vigilant and added: "I know the British people will stand together, united and resolute." The announcement came after a meeting of the government emergencies committee Cobra, following a burning car being driven into a Glasgow airport terminal. On Friday, two car bombs were found in ...

By Elisabeth Zimmermann On June 8, the Council of Europe’s Special Raporteur for human rights, Dick Marty, presented his second report concerning the illegal transport and secret imprisonment of prisoners (so-called “special renditions”). This report presents the facts and refutes the misleading and false statements made by government officials in the US and Europe. The Marty report finds that several European governments systematically obstructed the search for the truth and ...

The US Congress will take back its full trade authority from President George Bush, the majority Democratic leadership said while dismissing White House pleas to let him keep his special power. The expiration of the Trade Promotion Authority [TPA], which lets Bush negotiate trade agreements that cannot be amended by Congress, could deal a ...

The UN Security Council has voted to end a programme charged with looking for suspected weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, after no such weapons were found. Fourteen members of the bloc voted to close the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (Unmovic), with Russia abstaining, Johan Verbeke, council chairman, said. "It's a positive moment because it means the international community has now the necessary confidence to go ahead with Iraq ...

Security services played role in similar previous attacks, massive car bomb discovered in London Paul Joseph Watson Prison Planet Intelligence sources are refusing to rule out an Irish connection to a massive car bomb that was discovered in the heart of London this morning. Though at this early stage the facts are sketchy, any link to the IRA or its offshoots would re-open a can of worms concerning the ...

HAMISH MACDONELL MINISTERS are considering the compulsory microchipping of all dogs as part of a range of measures to crack down on dangerous breeds, The Scotsman has learned. Plans have been drawn up by the SNP MSP Alex Neil to update and reform the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act, which banned a number of breeds, including pit bull terriers. Kenny MacAskill, the justice secretary, said he was willing to back Mr Neil's plans, ...

By Andrew Bounds The privacy rights of air passengers travelling from Europe to the US will be put at risk by an information- sharing deal between the two aimed at stopping terrorist attacks, the European Union’s top data protection official has said. Peter Hustinx wrote in a letter that the agreement, to be unveiled on Friday, could violate the rights of EU citizens. It allows the US to retain ...

By Ivan Simic RINF Alternative News The term "*New World Order*" (*Novus Ordo Mundi*) has been used to refer to a new period of history evidencing a dramatic change in world political thought and the balance of power. When we talk about New World Order we can say that everything is about hegemony and dominance of stronger countries over others. If we look back through history we can recount various attempts of ...

Tom Espiner RINF Alternative News Gordon Brown will not substantially alter current government IT projects, analyst firm Ovum said on Thursday, the first full day of office for the new prime minister. "We don't see a huge change in direction," said Ovum's senior analyst John O'Brien. "As chancellor, Brown pretty much helped to direct all investments in the last 10 years anyway — they had his stamp of approval." Instead, Ovum expects a greater ...

Police are hunting the driver of an abandoned car containing a bomb that would have killed hundreds of people in central London had it exploded. An ambulance crew spotted the metallic green Mercedes by chance outside the busy Tiger Tiger night club in Haymarket at 0130BST (0030GMT). Police defused a bomb made of 60 litres of petrol, gas cylinders and nails. In what is believed to be a related incident Park ...

By MATT APUZZO A federal appeals court said Friday it would release some of the documents it reviewed when deciding to force journalists to testify in the CIA leak investigation. The ruling followed a request by The Associated Press and Dow Jones, which asked for the release of the sworn statements Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald gave to justify subpoenas for New York Times reporter Judith Miller and Time magazine reporter ...

By Mick Meaney RINF Alternative News  An independent news web site has begun appealing for help from members of the public in a bid to get re-enlisted in Google News. The web site, thepeoplesvoice.org has been accused of publishing anti-Semitic content and hate material due to their criticism of Israel. The web site strongly denies the accusations. Thepeoplesvoice.org said: “We post excellent articles by many different people and from journalists risking their ...

David Nason A TOP-RANKING US judge has stunned a conference of Australian judges and barristers in Chicago by advocating secret trials for terrorists, more surveillance of Muslim populations across North America and an end to counter-terrorism efforts being "hog-tied" by the US constitution. Judge Richard Posner, a supposedly liberal-leaning jurist regarded by many as a future US Supreme Court candidate, said traditional concepts of criminal justice were inadequate to ...

By Robert Verkaik Google, the world's biggest search engine, is being sued by a London businessman in a landmark legal action that could hold the US-based company liable for the publication of inaccurate, malicious or damaging material on the internet. The case, the first of its kind in this country that seeks to make search engines responsible for the content of the internet - could trigger severe restrictions on ...

An Egyptian billionaire who allegedly spied for Israel in the 1970s has been found dead outside his home in London. Ashraf Marwan, the ...