Israel warns it would get tough in conflict with Lebanon

JERUSALEM: Israel's defence minister claimed on Thursday that the militant Lebanese Hezbollah group has stockpiled 40,000 rockets and warned the Jewish state would get tough in case of a conflict with Lebanon.

'We cannot accept that a neighbouring UN member state should have in its government representatives of a militia that has more than 40,000 rockets,' Defence Minister Ehud Barak told Israeli public radio.

'If there is a conflict on our northern border, we will use all necessary force,' he said.

'What happened in the second Lebanon war will not happen again ... at the time a message from the United States indicated we must spare Lebanon's infrastructure,' the minister said.

Israel, which considers Hezbollah a terror group, fought a 34-day war with the Shia militia in July-August 2006, in which more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, were killed in Lebanon and 160 in Israel, most of them soldiers.

'Hezbollah continues arming itself and we must ensure certain types of weapon should not enter Lebanon,' Barak said. -AFP

Pakistan asks Interpol to help track Mumbai suspects

LYON, France: Pakistan has asked Interpol to issue a global alert for 13 suspects wanted for the attacks in Mumbai of November 2008, the international police agency said Thursday.

The alert asks member countries to help locate the fugitives and notify Pakistani authorities who will then issue arrest warrants and seek their extradition, an Interpol statement said.

‘The authorities in Pakistan are to be commended for making full use of Interpol's global network and tools,’ said secretary general Ron Noble in the statement issued from the agency's headquarters in Lyon.

‘This demonstrates their commitment to allowing all of Interpol's 187 member-countries to benefit from and help with the investigation into the Mumbai terrorist attacks,’ he said.

The 13 suspects were not named in the media statement, but Interpol said their names and other information would be included in the police agency's databases and circulated worldwide.

A total of 166 people died and more than 300 were injured in the November 26-29 attacks, which saw 10 heavily-armed gunmen target luxury hotels, the Indian city's main railway station, a popular restaurant and a Jewish centre.

India has blamed the attacks on the banned militant group Lashkar-i-Taiba (LT).

Pakistan has arrested five people suspected of involvement in the assault, including the alleged mastermind, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi. Their trial is expected to begin in the next week.

‘Pakistan's actions in this case will help set new international standards for terrorism investigations,’ said Noble.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani pledged earlier this month to do everything in his power to bring those behind the attack to justice following a meeting with his Indian counterpart in Egypt.

US doubles military supply for Somalia

NAIROBI: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday pledged to "expand and extend" American support for Somalia's weak interim government as it struggles against Islamist extremists believed linked to al-Qaida.

Accusing the extremists of trying to turn Somalia into a base to launch worldwide terrorist attacks, Clinton said the Obama administration would boost military supplies and other aid to the government and an African peacekeeping force supporting it. She did not detail the new aid.

"They see Somalia as a future haven for global terrorism," she said of the extremist Somali militia known as al-Shabab. To make her point, she noted the recent arrests of four men allegedly linked to the group who are suspected of plotting attacks there in Australia.

"Our information is that al-Shabab not only uses foreign fighters and foreign money but foreign ideas in its attack on the people of Somalia," she said.

"There is also no doubt that al-Shabab wants to take control of Somalia and use it as a base from which to influence and even infiltrate surrounding countries and launch attacks against countries far and near," Clinton said after meeting beleaguered Somali President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed at the U.S. Embassy in Kenya.

Man loses Florida license after New York DWAI conviction

Florida Court Of Appeals - On August 5, 2009, the District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District, issued an opinion in the case or Robert C. Dawson v. State of Florida, Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Judge Cope issued the opinion of the court, which has not bee released for formal publication. Attorneys Robin Lotane and Damaris E. Reynolds represented the state, and Mr. Dawson acted as his own lawyer.

As happens more often than not, Mr. Dawson didn't have an attorney and therefore lost the case to the team of government lawyers working against him. Here's how it happened:

On July 14, 2008, Mr. Dawson was convicted in Suffolk County, New York of DWAI ("driving while ability impaired). His driver's license was suspended for 90 days and he was fined. Later, on August 27, 2008, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (the Florida DMV) revoked his Florida driver's license for a year because of the New York conviction.

In Florida, the Florida DMV has the authority to revoke the driver's license of Florida licensed drivers for various out of state convictions, of which DUI is one.

Mr. Dawson filed a writ of certiorari in Martin County, Florida, asking the judge to reinstate his license. His appeal was denied. He then filed an appeal in the Fourth District Court of Appeal (for Florida). That court recused itself because of a potential conflict of interest in the case. The case then ended up in the Third District.

Mr. Dawson's legal argument was that the New York DWAI conviction didn't have the same elements as a Florida DUI. After comparing the two statutes, however, the appeals court rejected that position.

Mr. Dawson also asserted that he was denied due process with the Florida DMV gave him the maximum possible suspension without a hearing. The Court confirmed that the DMV can enter an order revoking a person's driving privileges without prior notice or opportunity to be heard, and it does not violate the due process clause of the Constitution because he could have requested a hearing on receipt of the notice of revocation anyways.

Even though Mr. Dawson chose to represent himself rather than have an attorney, he is held to the same standard as somebody who is actually a trained lawyer. He missed the deadline for requesting a hearing, and therefore it was his inaction, rather than a due process violation that, according to the court, sealed his fate of not driving for a year.

Pennsylvania DUI case about transit authority jurisdiction issued on 7-31-09

Allegheny County, PA - On July 31, 2009 the Superior Court of Pennsylvania handed down a decision reversing the suppression of evidence in the case of Pennsylvania v. Derek Bloom.

The issue that the court had to decide was whether the lower court erred when it concluded that a Port Authority officer lacked jurisdiction to stop Mr. Bloom's vehicle.

Per statute, the Railroad and Street Railway Police act, railroad and railway police have jurisdiction in the City in, on, and in the immediate and adjacent vicinity of the transit property.

The court concluded that Mr. Bloom was, in fact, stopped in the immediate and adjacent vicinity and was within 150 feet from Port Authority property. Because of the proximity, the Appeals Court said that the lower court should not have suppressed evidence in this case.