amnesty news stories on Newser

N. Korea to Free Prisoners for Kim Jong Il's Birthday

Kevin Spak — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 09:20:50 CST

North Korea has announced a round of special pardons for some of its prisoners in honor of what would have been Kim Jong Il's 70th birthday next month, in what the Telegraph sees as an attempt to boost the popularity of Dear Leader's heir, Kim Jong Un. The announcement, made...

California May Consider Amnesty Program

John Johnson — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 12:20:42 CST

The debate over offering amnesty to illegal immigrants might soon be a ballot issue in California. Democratic lawmaker Felipe Fuentes formally introduced a measure yesterday that would allow about 1 million undocumented immigrants in California to live and work there without worrying about getting deported, reports McClatchy Newspapers . Fuentes filed...

Burma's Thaw Now Extends to Media

Mark Russell — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 07:45:42 CDT

The political thawing of tropical Burma seems to be continuing, as the second-least-free country in the world for journalism (after North Korea) has begun to relax its tight controls over the media. As the Wall Street Journal reports, pictures of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi have appeared in newspapers...

Burma Releases 155 Political Prisoners

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 07:31:59 CDT

Burma today began releasing the 6,300 prisoners who will be granted amnesty, but so far the number of political detainees released does not come close to the estimated 2,000 who are in jail. The Telegraph puts the number of political prisoners released at 120, while the AP reports...

Burma Grants Amnesty to 6,300

Polly Davis Doig — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:57:43 CDT

The ice might be breaking in Burma: The nation's rulers today announced that they will grant amnesty to 6,359 prisoners beginning tomorrow, sparking hopes among democracy advocates that the 2,000-some political prisoners being held will be among them. The government didn't explicitly say political prisoners would be included,...

Silent Majority Backs Immigration Crackdown

Kevin Spak — Tue, 04 May 2010 11:29:36 CDT

Arizona may be under heavy fire for its strident new immigration law, but it appears a slim majority of Americans actually support it—and want more action taken. In the latest New York Times /CBS News poll, 51% said the Arizona law “is about right,” while another 9% said it...

San Francisco Druggies Unionize

Harry Kimball — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:34:00 CDT

San Francisco is a union town, so why not a union for…drug users? The San Francisco Drug-Users Union has been formed with $35,000 from the Drug Policy Alliance to give the addled a say in local government, a move that has also been taken in other big cities like...

Obama Gives Illegal Haitians Temp Amnesty

Will McCahill — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 20:21:03 CST

President Obama today gave Haitians in the US illegally the OK to stay for 18 months under “temporary protective status” while the quake-devastated nation rebuilds. And while critics don’t see much daylight between that and a blanket amnesty, one Republican says if the illegal immigrants were sent home, their homeland...

Dobbs to Latino Voters: Let's Be Amigos!

Harry Kimball — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:13:05 CST

If Lou Dobbs does indeed run against the only Hispanic in the Senate, New Jersey’s Robert Menendez, he may have to mend some fences with Latino voters—and here he goes. The former CNN anchor, notorious for his views against illegal immigration, gave an interview to Telemundo last week in...