Obama team quietly mulls new quarantine regulations --OMB set Sept. for target date to complete first major overhaul of quarantine regulations --W. House officials not saying what their rules might ultimately require 05 Aug 2009 The Obama administration is quietly dusting off an effort to impose new federal quarantine regulations, which were vigorously resisted by civil liberties organizations and the airline industry when the rules were first proposed by the Bush regime nearly four years ago. The White House’s Office of Management and Budget has set a September target date to complete the first major overhaul of the quarantine regulations in about three decades. That would have at least some of the rules in place if swine flu returns with a vengeance later this year, though officials are reluctant to make that link publicly. [See: Military Poised to Help FEMA Battle Swine Flu Outbreak --U.S. commander for Northern Command asked Defense Secretary to sign executive order for military to set up five regional teams to deal with outbreak --Orders to deploy actual forces would be reviewed later 29 Jul 2009 The Pentagon is preparing to help the Federal Emergency Management Agency tackle a potential outbreak of the H1N1 virus this fall, FOX News has confirmed. See: DoD to 'augment civilian law' during pandemic or bioterror attack and DoD to carry out 'military missions' during pandemic, WMD attack.] Report: White House Weighing Federal Quarantine Rules 05 Aug 2009 The Obama White House may be preparing to enact new federal quarantine regulations that were first put forth by the Bush administration almost four years ago, according to a report from Politico.com. While the Obama administration has been tight lipped about the possible new regulations, the Bush-era proposal sought to give the federal government, "the authority to order a provisional quarantine of three business days or up to six calendar days, for those suspected of having swine flu or other illnesses listed in a presidential executive order," the Politico report said.
More charged with terrorism offences in Australia 05 Aug 2009 Australian police charged four more men on Wednesday with planning to attack an army base and shoot soldiers as the government considered whether to ban a Somalia militant group linked to the plot. During a brief court hearing in Melbourne on Wednesday, one of those charged refused to stand before the court and then shouted at the presiding magistrate. "You call me a terrorist? I have never killed a person in my life," said Wissam Mahmoud Fattal, 33, before he was led to a jail cell. "Your army kills innocent people in Iraq and Afghanistan and Israel takes Palestinian land by force," he said.
