News of the Day
Yesterday the Senate voted to declare English both a “national language” and a “common and unifying language,” in its first votes on the issue in over two decades. The controversial amendments are part of a comprehensive plan to overhaul immigration legislation. Critics denounced the "national language" amendment as racist and warned that it could undercut civil rights law, while its sponsor, Sen. James Inhofe, insisted the measure would help unify the country’s increasingly diverse population.
Near the San Ysidro border crossing yesterday federal agents shot and killed a man whose SUV had pressed a Border Patrol agent against another vehicle. Agents had been tracking the vehicle after receiving a tip that it had picked up suspected illegal immigrants on the U.S. side of the border.
In its first review of U.S. policy since the inception of the war on terror, the United Nations committee against torture urged President Bush to close the Guantanamo Bay facility and any secret jails in which it holds foreign terrorism suspects. John Bellinger, top legal adviser at the U.S. State Department, has rejected the recommendations, saying they are beyond the committee’s mandate. With the Palestinian Authority facing sanctions and unable to pay the salaries of government employees, a senior Hamas official was arrested Friday trying to smuggle more than $800,000 into Gaza from Egypt. Echoing concerns raised recently by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, Poland’s Defense Minister Radek Sikorski has accused Russia of using its energy reserves to bully its western neighbors. Talks between Russia and the E.U. are scheduled for next week.
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