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Militant groups have been stepping up their attacks in recent months to try to show that they are forcing the Israelis out. A month ago, soldiers discovered a tunnel militants were digging toward the Karni checkpoint in an attempt to blow it up. Also Friday, the Palestinian security chief announced the creation of an elite 750-member unit to fight crime in the chaotic Gaza Strip. The Palestinians have been trying to rebuild their security forces, which were weakened by more than four years of fighting with Israel. Since 2000, Israel has repeatedly targeted Palestinian police installations in response to attacks by Palestinian militants.-G. Rabinovitz Tony Blair government proposes that court fines be linked to offender's income LONDON- The British government has proposed that court fines are directly linked to an offender's income, prompting angry accusations Friday that it is unfairly targeting the middle class. Under the current law, judges set fines according to the severity of the offence, and can reduce the sum if the culprit cannot pay. But under the new system proposed by Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour government, the level would be dictated by the income of the offender, leading to a steep increase in fines paid by the well off. "This is a cynical attempt by Labour to make the middle classes pick up the bill for their failure to manage the criminal justice system," said David Davis, law and order spokesman for the opposition Conservative party. "This aspect of the bill is less about justice, and more about raising money." The Home Office defended the Management of Offenders and Sentencing Bill, which was introduced in Parliament on Thursday. "Fines are meant to have equal impact on the rich and the poor and what this does is formalize the process of means testing that already exists," the department said in a statement. The plan would only apply to magistrates courts, which sentence less serious offences. The judge would calculate the daily disposable income of the offender, up to a maximum of 75 pounds or about $170 Cdn and multiply that by the number of points assigned to an offence. Minor offences such as being drunk in a bar would carry 10 points, while failing to stop after being involved in a traffic accident would carry 200 points. A better off person with a daily disposable income of 60 pounds ($136 Cdn) would thus pay 600 pounds ($1,360 Cdn) for being drunk in a bar, while a person with just five pounds (about $11 Cdn) a day would pay 50 pounds ($110 Cdn) . U.S. judge denies atheist's lawsuit to prevent prayer at Bush inauguration WASHINGTON- An atheist who tried to remove "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance lost a bid Friday to bar the saying of a Christian prayer at President George W. Bush's inauguration. U.S. District Judge John Bates said Michael Newdow's claim should be denied because he already had filed and lost a similar lawsuit in a federal appeals court in California last year.
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Bates also said Newdow had no legal standing to pursue his claim. Even if Newdow could show he had suffered injury because he was offended in hearing the prayer, Bates said the court did not have authority to stop the president from inviting clergy to give a religious prayer at the ceremony. In a telephone interview from his home in Sacramento, Calif., Newdow said Bates had written a thoughtful opinion "but he came to the wrong conclusion." He said he plans to appeal. Bates wrote: "The court's grave concerns about its power to issue an injunction against the president, which is the only method of redressing Newdow's alleged injuries, places in peril Newdow's standing to bring this action." Even if he were to rule on the merits of Newdow's claims, Bates said, Newdow was unlikely to prevail.The judge relied heavily on a 1983 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that prayers at opening sessions of legislatures and other public bodies do not violate the separation of church and state. Newdow argued saying a Christian prayer at the Jan. 20 inaugural ceremony would violate the U.S. Constitution by forcing him to accept unwanted religious beliefs. Lawyers representing Bush and his inaugural committee argued prayers have been widely accepted at inaugurals for more than 200 years and Bush's decision to have a minister recite the invocation is a personal choice the court has no power to prevent. Newdow gained widespread publicity two years ago after winning his pledge case before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which ruled public schools violated the separation of church and state by having students mention God. The Supreme Court later threw out the ruling, saying Newdow could not lawfully sue because he did not have custody of his elementary school-age daughter, on whose behalf he sued. Newdow refiled the pledge suit in Sacramento federal court this month, naming eight other parents and children. Newdow is both an emergency room physician and lawyer and has represented himself in both legal actions.
Prince Harry considers invitations to visit Auschwitz after Nazi costume flap LONDON- Prince Harry is considering invitations from Jewish groups to visit the Auschwitz death camp, a royal spokeswoman said Friday, while Britons debated whether his wearing a swastika armband at a costume party has damaged the monarchy. The invitations "will be given due consideration, but there are no plans at the moment," the spokeswoman said as the controversy over Harry's Nazi costume dominated front pages for a second day. Some argued that Harry is just an academically undistinguished 20-year-old who is unlikely ever to become king, and who has a right to a private life. But the modern monarchy's power is all in symbolism, and Harry's detractors say he needs to be better attuned to the power of images. "A chap at that age is not bad, they just don't think," said famed wartime singer Dame Vera Lynn, herself a living symbol of Britain's struggle against Nazi Germany in the Second World War. Charles's office stressed that Harry would not attend ceremonies on Jan. 27 commemorating the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex, although the Simon Wiesenthal Center had urged him to do so.
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