Lebanon's president, emboldened by a massive pro-Syria demonstration, reinstated Omar Karami as prime minister on Thursday, 10 days after the Damascus-backed leader stepped down under popular and international pressure.

China disclosed the first details of a new law on secession yesterday that authorizes an attack on Taiwan if it formally declares independence, as the Bush administration said the measure will raise tensions and increase the risk of war.The new law comes as U.S. intelligence officials warned Congress last month that China is building up its military forces -Bill Gertz/Washington Times

The Bush administration and Senate Republicans intensified their push yesterday to allow oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a measure that has for years been thwarted by fierce opposition.As oil and gasoline prices flirted with record highs, GOP lawmakers said opening the refuge would help hold down costs and reduce U.S. reliance on imported oil -Washington Post

In a nation of 70 million, two-thirds of Iran’s population is under the age of 30, one of the youngest populations in the world. And now? Twenty-five years after the Revolution, over 16 years since the end of a devastating war with Iraq, young people have become disengaged from the political events that shaped the course of their lives -Danna Farhang/Axis of Logic

The point of GIRA is simple, and the New York City Council was not shy about expressing it: to threaten gun manufacturers and dealers outside of New York with potentially devastating liability unless they institute nationwide sales restrictions mandated by the City -ANTHONY J. SEBOK and TIMOTHY LYTTON/FindLaw

Twenty-three-year-old, Houston-born American citizen Ahmed Omar Abu Ali has been returned to Virginia after twenty months in solitary confinement in a Saudi Arabian prison.He is alleged to have plotted to assassinate President Bush - but is not charged with that conspiracy.The case is far from as open-and-shut as the FBI might suggest.Indeed, a number of aspects of the prosecution are deeply troubling -Elaine Cassel/FindLaw

Craig Tweedy is an attorney in Oklahoma and Director of a grassroots organization called The Truth and Justice Foundation. He's also a man on a mission of duty.Tweedy says he's out to generate internet and talk radio exposure of scandal in the courts: federal judge fraud being protected by state bar and law clerk fraud on the U.S. Supreme Court itself -NewsWithViews

The essentials of America’s true, historic "homeland security" are to be found in the Preamble to the Constitution.Yet all Americans are being told, and large numbers of them apparently have come to believe, that "insur[ing] domestic Tranquility, [and] provid[ing] for the common defence" is actually incompatible with "secur[ing] the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity". They are told that "security" must be preferred to liberty, and can be obtained only at the price of liberty -Dr. Edwin Vieira, Jr./NewsWithViews

Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez arrived in France today, rounding up a four-continent, four-country tour that has taken him to Uruguay, India, Qatar, and France.The Venezuelan ambassador to France, Roy Chaderton, framed Chávez's visit to France in the context of a worldwide effort to recuperate a multilateral world in order that there is not only one power that exerts its influence or makes all the decisions -Venezuelanalysis VE

While the U.S. is forced to barely tolerate Chávez so long as he keeps the oil flowing, a López Obrador victory in Mexico next year would likely scorch Washington policymakers, especially if he reverses Vicente Fox’s policy and reaches out to Castro as have Chávez, Lula, Kirchner and Vázquez.If he wins, the administration will then be faced with four left-of-center hemispheric powerhouses: Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico -Seth R. DeLong/Venezuelanalysis VE

In a history making resolution, Judge Alejandro Solís on Monday notified Manuel Contreras, the former head of Chile’s secret police, that he will be prosecuted for tortures he help commit during the 17-year reign of ex-dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet.This is the first time a Chilean court has charged former military authorities with deliberately using violence against political prisoners -Santiago Times CL

The Syrian government delivered its "people power" counter-punch to Lebanon's anti-Syria campaign, drawing over 100,000 to a meticulously stage-managed demonstration in Damascus on Wednesday. Such a massive public display would not be possible without government approval in Syria, a tightly controlled state -Jerusalem Post IL

The Pentagon has concluded that its policies did not lead to the abuse of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay and found no "explicit" pressure from top officials to use extreme interrogation methods, congressional aides said on Wednesday.But the latest abuse report, by Navy inspector general Vice Adm. Albert Church, found breakdowns in order and discipline at some units contributed to abuses, and said the Pentagon could have stepped in to prevent them if it had used more aggressive oversight

If mercury is one of the most dangerous pollutants in America, why are power plants receiving so many disincentives to cut mercury emissions? Maybe if mercury killed the brush in Crawford, Bush would get serious about curbing it -Ari Berman/The Nation

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev warned Wednesday that Vladimir Putin could face serious unrest if he pursues painful economic policies and urged the Russian president to fire Cabinet members over unpopular benefit reforms.

The 32-page assessment says flatly, "To date, we have not identified any true 'sleeper' agents in the US," seemingly contradicting the "sleeper cell" description prosecutors assigned to seven men in Lackawanna, N.Y., in 2002.

The prime minister on Wednesday disputed Washington's version of the events leading to the killing of an Italian intelligence agent by U.S. troops in Baghdad, saying the agent had notified the proper authorities that he was on his way to the airport after winning the release of a hostage.

Ex-Sgt. Nadim Abou Rabeh, of Lebanese descent, was quoted in the Saudi daily al-Medina Wednesday as saying Saddam was actually captured Friday, Dec. 12, 2003, and not the day after, as announced by the U.S. Army.

Women and children among victims; Suicide bomber kills three; Bush sends "solidarity letter" to Italy.--Guardian