Armitage was source of CIA leak

Richard Armitage the former Deputy Secretary of State was the source of CIA leak it was revealed and not former VP Chief of Staff Lewis Libby as the special federal prosecutor has claimed. Libby is charged with lying to a federal prosecutor.

Gov. Jeb Bush declares State of Emer. for So. FL

Gov. Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency for the So. Florida as Hurricane Ernesto tracks toward Florida. Tourists were ordered to evacuate the area. Officials said they wanted to evacuate tourists first so that there would be an orderly evacuation.

Several planes diverted due to security concerns

A number of commercial airliners were diverted from their original flight plans amid heightened security concerns. This is just another issue airlines must deal with as they attempt to remain in business while fuel prices have skyrocketed.

Judge temporarily blocks strike

A federal appeals court judge in New York as temporarily stopped a strike by NWA flight attendants. The judge stated he needed more time to review the case. NWA had argued that it was illegal for the union to strike while the airline was in bankruptcy. The Justice department also filed papers on behalf of Northwest stating that it would have been a violation of federal law.

DOJ joins NWA against flight attendants strike

The Justice Department has filed papers on Northwests behalf arguing that a flight attendants strike would violate federal law. A bankruptcy judge had ruled earlier that a strike by the flight attendants was legal despite the fact that Northwest is in bankruptcy. A federal appeals court is expected to rule on the matter soon. The flight attendants have threatened to implement CHAOS as part of the strike plans.

FDA approves plan B for OTC

The FDA gave formal approval today to a controversial pill plan B. Plan B is supposed to protect against unwanted pregnancy due to unprotected sex. Democrats had threatened to block the nomination of a current FDA member to become the Chief of the FDA. Plan B is expected to be sold over the counter but customers will be required to show ID to purchase it. Only those 18 and older will be allowed to buy it.

Iran to formally respond to UN resolution

Iran is expected soon to respond to the UN resolution to stop its nuclear program. Iran has been defiant every step of the way stating that they have the right to defend themselves. Experts and many countries are wary of Iran's claim that they are doing it for peacefull purposes. Iran has plenty of oil and has ties to, encourages and finances known terrorist organiztions.

Ellison campaign continues amid controversy

The Keith Ellison for Congress continues forward as the DFL endorsed candidate despite controversies over past statements as well as several unpaid tickets. Now it has been learned that he was late on paying taxes on his businesses. Ellison faces a serious primary challenge from fellow democrats and may not make it past primary amid the allegations.

DFL Cmte endorses candidate for AG

The DFL State Central Committee endorsed Steve Kelly for Attorney General. Kelly was endorsed when former House Minority Leader Matt Entenza who was the endorsed candidate for Attorney General. Steve Kelly is currently a state senator and was competing with the likes of Deputy Attorney General Lori Swanson for the endorsement as well as former Congressman Bill Luther.

Texas GOP endorses write-in candidate for congress

After failing to legally remove Tom DeLays name off the ballot for the Republican Party the party opted to endorse a write-in candidate for DeLay's seat. A federal judge earlier had ruled that DeLay's name could not be removed from the ballot after he won the parties nomination. DeLay's district is 60% republican. DeLay officially resigned from office in early June.

Judge rules warrantless wiretaps unconstitutional

A federal judge ruled today that warrantless wiretaps were unconstitutional. Lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that the government does not have the right to tap phone lines unless there is court order. The government argued that this tool is a necessary and legal tool. Pres. Bush said that he disagreed with the ruling and that those who believe this do not understand the nature of the threat that terrorism poses to the United States. Bush authorized the National Security Agency to conduct warrantless wiretaps on international phone calls in which there were individuals connected with known terrorist organizations. He also made sure that there were regular inspections to make sure that civil liberties were protected. It was a program that was considered to have the most monitoring of any program to minimize the likelyhood of abuse. The Justice Department is expected to appeal the decision to the US Court of Appeals.

Bankruptcy judge rules on strike

A bankruptcy judge has ruled that NWA flight attendants do have a right to strike against Northwest Airlines despite the fact that the airline was in bankruptcy. The airline had contended that a strike while a company was in bankruptcy was illegal a judge ruled otherwise. Flight attendants plan to implment a plan called CHAOS (Creating Havoc Around Our System) This would mean that only a select few people would know when the strike would occur and a disruption in one part of the system would lead to delays in other parts of the system.

British authorities still on high terror alert

The British have not lowered their terror alert because they believe an attack is still imment. Authorities believe that other terror cells could be ready to strike. US officials still have flights from the UK to the US on high alert. However US officials have eased restriction of carry-on items for domestic flights.

Authorities arrest suspects who bought prepaid cellphones

Federal authorities arrested several students after they bought multiple cellphones. Prepaid cellphones are thought to be used for international phone calls which make them harder to trace and to detonate bombs from a remote locations. Authorities found that they had as many as a thousand prepaid cellphones. The suspects said they bought them to resell them at a profit. The suspects are being charged with providing material support to a terrorist organization.

UN Security Council approves cease-fire resolution

The UN Security Council approved a plan that would end the violence between Hezbollah and Israel. An international force will be sent to maintain a buffer zone between south Lebanon and Israel. The Israelis will be allowed to continue military attacks until the international forces arrive. They are not expected to end military plans until Sunday. Hezbollah is expected to be disarmed. Most observers hope that the UN will have much more success with this resolution than the previous resolution that were not enforced.

British authorities foil plot for planes bound for United States

British authorities earlier today foiled a plot to blow up planes bound for the United States. The terror alert in the United States has been raised to orange and flights bound from the UK to the US have been raised to red. The threat is considered ongoing.

Lieberman and McKinney lose primaries

Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) lost his primary to democrat millionaire Ned Lamont in Tuesdays primary. Lieberman is expected to run as an independent now that he no longer has the support of his party. Connecticut has more registered voters of independents than republicans and democrats. Lieberman was criticised by democrats for supporting the president on the War in Iraq.
Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney of Georgia lost her primary bid to win re-election in Georgia. McKinney has been a controversial figure on Capitol Hill recently she was accused of striking a Capitol Hill police officer after failing to yield to an officer. Members of congress are encourage to wear their lapel pins that identify them as members of congress so that officers can easily identify them and bypass security. McKinney also missed a number of scheduled debates.

Mexican Court not likely to recommend recount

The Federal Elections Tribunal which has final authority on elections has said that it will not recommend a recount of a closely contested presidential election. The conservative Calderon narrowly won election by less than 1% over his liberal counterpart Obrador. The court also said that if a recount is authorized that each lawsuit must be brought individually and not by class action suit which the Obrador campaign had sought. The Tribunal has until September to issue a a final ruling on the matter.

Castro transfers power

Fidel Castro temporarily transferred presidential power to his brother Raul. Castro is currently recovering from surger and this transfer was done for cautionery reason Cuban officials said. Cuban exiles in Florida were seen rejoicing over the news of Castro.

Court says DeLays name must remain on ballot

A federal appeals court ruled today that former Rep. Tom DeLay's name must remain on the ballot. Despite the fact that he no longer resides in Texas but moved to Virginia. The Texas GOP attempted to replace DeLay with another republican since DeLay resigned from the US House on June 9th. The democrats opposed the filing because they want to use DeLay as a way to campaign on the culture of corruption since republicans are in the majority. This will be interesting to reconcile since the federal constitution requires that a candidate reside in the state that he or she intends to represent. DeLay won the republican primary back in March.