Let's hope this isn't true. Human Rights Watch as of yet has not reported this.

Background here.

More on the prospective hangings from DC Democrat at Daily Kos.

Head-shaker of the day: Bali is going to cut the sentences of the Bali Bombers and tens of thousands of other prisoners.

Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, who is serving a 30-month jail term for his role in instigating the Bali bombings, will have his sentence cut as prisoners across Indonesia are granted leniency to mark independence day, the local media has reported. Justice Minister Hamid Awaluddin said Bashir and some of the 24 other people jailed for their roles the 2002 Bali attacks would receive sentence remissions in conjunction with Wednesday's independence day celebrations, according to the Jakarta Post.

A Jakarta court in March sentenced Bashir to 30 months in jail for taking part in a conspiracy that led to the Bali bombings, which killed 202 people including 88 Australians.

...The office of the Justice Ministry in Bali has proposed remissions for 19 of 24 Bali bombers in the Kerobokan prison on the resort island, Antara quoted ministry official Mayun Mataram as saying.

Also receiving a sentence reduction will by Tommy Suharto:

Tommy Suharto, the youngest son of former dictator Suharto who is serving a 10-year jail sentence for killing a judge, is also eligible for leniency, the Post said.

And Schappelle Corby? Serving 20 years in an Indonesian prison for 4 kilos of pot that probably wasn't hers? Nothing.

The DEA is persona non grata in Venezuela. President Hugo Chavez has accused the DEA of using its agents as spies.

Chavez maintains that the DEA has been using the fight against drugs as a pretext to gather intelligence on Venezuela.

60 years ago today, the U.S. dropped a nuclear bomb called "little boy" on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. More than 55,000 people attended a memorial service in a Hiroshima park today.

There is a gripping series in Der Spiegel today about the history of the making the bomb and what led to the decision to drop it, and the effects. The series begins with the recollection of 16 year old Keijiro Matsushima who was in a classroom when the bomb hit. He survived. This is some of what he saw:

Matsushima, bleeding from multiple wounds, drags himself into the schoolyard under swirling, thick, dark clouds of dust. Many of his classmates are already lying outside, some spitting up dark blood. He sees grayish burn wounds through their torn clothing.

Downtown Hiroshima is completely destroyed in the blast. Horribly disfigured people emerge from the direction of the city, clumps of skin hanging detached from their swollen bodies, their reddish muscle tissue exposed.

Many are covered by nothing but their underwear, and their hair -- made frizzy by the intense heat -- protrudes wildly from their heads. To keep their wounds from touching, the victims walk with their arms outstretched. When Matsushima recalls the gruesome scene, he calls it a "procession of ghosts."

More bad news for jailed Australian Schapelle Corby. At the final day of her appeals hearing, the judges refused to allow witnesses to testify by videoconference, including one who would have testified that the 4.5 kilos of pot found in her boogie board bag were destined for him. He refused to go to Bali to testify because he would then be charged and facing a possible life in prison or death sentence.

More news of the doomed hearing is here. [Hat tip to Heretik]

Schapelle cooking rice in her jail cell.

All of TalkLeft's coverage is here.

post by Last Night in Little Rock

Saudi Arabia's King Fahd died during the night, U.S. time.

CNN notes that his "close ties with the United States stirred the passions of Islamic militants"; like the 9/11 hijackers.

Did cuddling up to Crown Prince Abdullah, holding hands, no less, only inflame Islamic militants even more? What clearer message to the world that the U.S. depends on Saudi oil? As Ross Perot would say, "that sucking sound is your cash going overseas to pay for oil which effects the price of everything in the world."

by TChris

The United States would be upset if a foreign government kidnapped an individual from the US and spirited him away to another country for interrogation. No surprise, then, that an Italian court has issued six arrest warrants for suspected CIA agents who – as part of the infamous “rendition” program – kidnapped an Egyptian-born man from the streets of Milan. As TalkLeft reported last month, the Italian court earlier ordered the arrest of another 13 suspected CIA agents.

All 19 are now considered fugitives in Italy.

The Italian government complains that the kidnapping prevented Italian authorities from arresting and interrogating the suspected terrorist, depriving Italy of the chance to protect itself from other terrorists who might be within its borders. The CIA claims it “uses the rendition process only with strict government oversight,” but the question is, which government?

The Bush administration undoubtedly regards Italy’s insistence that its borders are sovereign as an anti-American policy. Perhaps, in retaliation, the administration will suggest that Italian sausage henceforth be known as Freedom sausage.

Time is running out for Schapelle Corby. She has until August 3 to produce a witness who can prove she was framed and that the 4 kilos of pot for which she was sentenced to 20 years in an Indonesian prison were planted.

A Sydney drug dealer is ready to testify that the drugs planted in her luggage were meant for him. But, he will only testify if Australian prosecutors give him immunity and promise he won't be extradited to Bali.

Very few things render me speechless. This is one of them. Via PageOneQ:

Two boys, one aged 18 and one underage minor, were lashed 228 times before being hung by Iranian authorities in the northeastern city of Mashad, PageOneQ has learned.

Within hours of the execution, Members of Iran’s parliament expressed outrage, not for the deaths of the two young men, identified only by the the initials A.M. and M.A., but at journalists who reported the ages of those who were put to death.

More here.

Ignorant, despicable barbarians. A pox on all their houses.

Australian Schapelle Corby turns 28 today - inside a Bali jail.

The New York Times has a rather mean-spirited article about her Sunday- focusing more on Australia's racist policies than on Schapelle, and asserting that Scapelle's case is gathering attention because she is white and good-looking. It castigates Australians for not making Tran Thi Hong Loan, a 33 year old Australian of Vietnamese descent, a cause celebre since she is serving life in prison in Vietnam for attempting to leave the country with 880 grams of heroin in a bottle of hair spray.

Two wrongs don't make a right. The point here is not racism, it is Indonesia's draconian penalties for drug offenses, particularly those for marijuana.

Happy Birthday, Schapelle, we wish you a successful appeal

The Indonesian high court has agreed to reopen Schappelle Corby's case and allow her new defense team to present new witnesses.

The defense has a tough job though - the Court is expecting it to produce the person who put the 4.1 kilos of marijuana in her luggage.

[Lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea]called on Australians to write to the Government to ask them to identify those airport staff who were on duty the day Corby travelled. He also wanted the Australian Federal Police to give evidence about incidents of illegal movement of drugs through Australian airports.

[hat tip to Heretik]

More than 200,000 people marched Saturday in Scotland -- where the G-8 summit will take place-- as part of the "Make Poverty History"

More than 200,000 anti-poverty campaigners formed a human chain around Scotland's capital on Saturday, echoing the musical call of the Live 8 concerts that world's wealthiest nations act to lift Africa out of misery. The "Make Poverty History" march launched a week of demonstrations ahead of the Group of Eight summit to be held near Edinburgh next week, with protesters hoping to pressure President Bush and his G-8 colleagues to end the misery of millions in the developing world.

Update: In my e-mail box tonight (no idea from whom):

Please tell Sir Bob that we fully support his efforts to get the G8 nations to eliminate poverty in Africa. We offered up our Sunday Mass for the success of his wonderful work.

Two New Zealand grandparents.

I doubt that Sir Bob is reading TalkLeft, but if he is, consider the message passed on, my pleasure.