8 US right-wing extremists plead 'not guilty'

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122173§ionid=3510203


Eight Americans who have been accused of conspiring to kill law enforcement officers have pleaded not guilty to murder charges in a federal court.

The defendants' attorneys said on Wednesday that there were many allegations with no substantial evidence to back them.

Lawyers also sought to block government efforts to have the defendants detained for the duration of the proceedings. One of them is accused of planning to seize up to four rural counties in southeast Michigan.

Attorneys claimed they are only exercising their rights to freely voice their anger.

The group, known as 'Hutarees' or 'Christian warriors', view the police as their enemy. They say they are fighting against a "new world order."

The Hutarees were charged with five criminal counts, including "seditious conspiracy and attempts to use weapons of mass destruction."

20,000 Palestinian homes under demolition threat

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121861&sectionid=351020202



Palestinian officials warn that more than 20,000 Palestinian homes in Jerusalem al-Quds could soon face demolition orders from Israeli municipal authorities.

Ahmad Ruweidi, the Palestinian Authority's legal advisor on al-Quds affairs, said Israeli courts will soon hand demolition orders to Palestinian homeowners over what Tel Aviv calls violation of construction rules over the past 10 years and the requirement of renewable licenses.

The figure does not include homes whose owners have already received final demolition orders from Israeli courts or the Israeli municipality in al-Quds, Ruweidi noted.

This means that all owners will live in a state of fear that at any moment their homes could be demolished or a family member may be found homeless on the street, he cautioned.

Ruweidi said Israel's policy was intended to force Palestinians in al-Quds to pay large sums to engineers and lawyers in addition to significant fines for the so-called 'violations of construction restrictions.'

Major differences between the Palestinians and Israelis are growing deeper over Tel Aviv's continued demolition of Palestinian houses in al-Quds and its efforts to create a demographic wedge in the region.

On Saturday, acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas told delegates at the Arab League summit in Libya that Israeli settlements in the West Bank, in annexed East al-Quds in particular, remained the main obstacle to the resumption of the 'peace' talks.

Abbas described al-Quds, which Palestinians have long been demanding as the capital of their future Palestinian state, as "the jewel in the crown as well as the door and the key to peace."

"We emphasize that we hold onto every grain of soil and stone in Jerusalem (al-Quds). We are determined to defend Palestine's capital," he stressed.