Countdown Newsletter: 06/29/06: Supremes Rebuke Bush

[Patsy Stone]

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Tonight on Countdown
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The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that President Bush overstepped his authority in ordering military war crimes trials for Guantanamo Bay detainees. The ruling, a rebuke to the administration and its aggressive anti-terror policies, was written by Justice John Paul Stevens, who said the proposed trials were illegal under U.S. law and international Geneva conventions. In brief comments, Bush said he will work with Congress to get approval to try terrorism suspects before military tribunals. The ruling raises major questions about the legal status of about 450 men still being held at Guantanamo and exactly how, when and where the administration might pursue the charges against them. It also seems likely to further fuel international criticism of the administration, including by many U.S. allies, for its handling of the terror war detainees at Guantanamo in Cuba, Abu Ghraib in Iraq and elsewhere. Two years ago, the court rejected Bush's claim to have the authority to seize and detain terrorism suspects and indefinitely deny them access to courts or lawyers. In this follow-up case, the justices focused solely on the issue of trials for some of the men. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13592908/

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Floodwaters rose in town after town along the upper Delaware River on Thursday, threatening thousands of homes and businesses along the border between New Jersey and Pennsylvania. A near-record crest, part of the deluge that has claimed at least 13 lives along the East Coast, was expected to sweep down the river from north to south Thursday. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13608342/

High gas prices and urban congestion are what finally pushed DaimlerChrysler AG to import its tiny Smart car to the U.S. It will arrive in the first quarter of 2008. "With gas hovering around $3 a gallon and finding a parking place like finding the Holy Grail, the time is right for Smart," DaimlerChrysler Chairman Dieter Zetsche said Wednesday in announcing plans to bring the two-seat, 40-mile-per-gallon micro-car to the U.S. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0606290201jun29,1,783835.story?coll=chi-business-hed

Pregnant pop princess Britney Spears is baring nearly all on the cover of Harper's Bazaar magazine. She posed in the buff for the cover of the August issue; there's also a photo spread inside. On the cover, Spears, who is sitting, cups her breasts with her hands and crosses her legs while showing her protruding belly and smiling for the camera. http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=2133990

That's some of what we're planning for tonight's show.

Finally,
Six British Airways staff have complained they were too tired to work after being kept awake by prostitutes and pimps at their hotel. The cabin crew are facing disciplinary action over the cancellation of a flight from New York to the UK. The stewards and stewardesses said they were too tired to fly because they were put up in a hotel being used by prostitutes. Some said their doors would not lock and that pimps were trying to get into their rooms, forcing them to erect makeshift barricades. The crew said that BA was initially sympathetic but later reopened inquiries into the incident. A BA spokeswoman said: "We held an initial safety inquiry and found that fatigue did not appear to be an issue. http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-13530549,00.html
Hey, it's hard out there for a flight attendant.

-- Carey Fox

Countdown Home: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/

Other News:
Israeli troops rounded up dozens of ministers and lawmakers from the Palestinians' ruling Hamas party Thursday while forging ahead with a military campaign in Gaza meant to win the release of an Israeli soldier held by Hamas gunmen. The body of a kidnapped 18-year-old Jewish settler who was shot in the head was found in the West Bank, Israeli security officials said. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13580436/

The economy sprang out of a year-end rut and zipped ahead in the opening quarter of this year at a 5.6 percent pace, the fastest in 2 1/2 years and even stronger than previously thought. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13611277/

Taking up a potentially explosive issue among religious conservatives, an influential government advisory panel Thursday recommended that 11- and 12-year-old girls be routinely vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13612899/

The missing laptop and hard drive that contained veterans' personal information has been found, Veterans Administration Chief Jim Nicholson announced Thursday. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13613727/

Iran's foreign minister on Thursday rejected demands from the seven major industrialized nations to respond by next week to an international offer to bargain over Tehran's disputed nuclear program. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11100858/

Andre Agassi advanced to the third round of his 14th and final Wimbledon on Thursday with a 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-4 victory over Andreas Seppi of Italy. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13613812/

[RevCheesehead]

1. Ya gotta wonder who writes this stuff!

"Some said their doors would not lock and that pimps were trying to get into their rooms, forcing them to erect makeshift barricades."

:rofl:

[WolverineDG]

2. I've stayed at flight crew hotels before

(including the one run by my cousin) & the airlines have some pretty interesting rules. One says that if they find that their room is unlocked, they cannot go in, but must either go back to the lobby & get an escort or if another guest (say me) wanders by, ask them to wait in the hall while they check their room out.

Some airlines even house the flight & cabin crews in separate hotels to keep down on monkey business, IYKWIM.

dg