Free Republic

A senior Hamas official said in an interview with the Turkish news agency Anadol that an agreement would be reached between Israel and Hamas by the end of the month. The official said that the agreement would be for five years and would include, inter alia, the halting of arson attacks, the return of dead bodies and the establishment of a port and an airport in the Sinai Peninsula. The official's statement comes after London's Asharq Al-Awsat claimed on Monday that Hamas had agreed to a "gradual ceasefire" in exchange for Israel reopening the Kerem Shalom crossing. Last week, Maariv...

Following the sentencing of 94-year-old Reinhold Hanning to 5 years in prison for his part in the murder of 170,000 Jews in the Holocaust, his lawyers have announced that they will appeal the sentence. The prosecution, representing Holocaust victims, will also appeal the leniency of the sentence. Hanning was convicted 10 days ago by a court in Detmold, Germany, for aiding the murder of 170,000 inmates at Aushwitz-Birkenau. The judges in the case found that Hanning worked as a guard in the German extermination camp on Polish soil in the years 1941-1944, while being involved in the deaths of 170,000...

The MSM celebrated in its own divisive way, but the truth is the Tea Party has been dedicated to bringing back honesty, accountability and a sense of patriotism back to government.Establishment GOP may hate them as much as liberals, but they're the reason we took the House in 2010, and they would do well to remember that.No they're not polished professionals, that's what makes them so honest and great.Let's hope we have the Tea Party for many more years to come.

Iran, worried by possible sabotage or an attack at the hands of Israel, has raised to five years the jail term for the crime of visiting Israel. State television reported on Monday that the parliament approved an amendment that ups the jail term to 2-5 years from the current three months. The original ban on traveling to the Jewish state, usually referred to by Iran as the "Zionist regime,” was inaugurated by the Shah in 1972, who did not want Iranians to visit communist countries. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s regime has arrested a number of Iranians, executing some of them,...

A Pierce County Superior Court judge Thursday sentenced LaTanya Clemmons to five years in prison for helping the suspected getaway driver after the murders of four Lakewood police officers in November. Clemmons' brother, Maurice, committed the worst violence against police in state history when he shot and killed Lakewood police Sgt. Mark Renninger and officers Tina Griswold, Ronald Owens and Greg Richards in a Parkland coffee shop early on Nov. 29. A Seattle police officer shot and killed Clemmons 40 hours later, following a massive manhunt. Judge Stephanie Arend told Clemmons that although her actions "would not have changed the...

A judge on Friday sentenced onetime Los Angeles city commissioner Leland Wong to five years in state prison, bringing an end to Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley's "pay to play" investigation of the administration of former Mayor James K. Hahn. Wong, the son of Chinese immigrants who had served in the administrations of three Los Angeles mayors, was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs as his friends and family watched. The San Marino resident was found guilty in July on 14 felony counts, including bribery, conflict of interest, perjury and embezzlement. Prosecutors accused Wong of receiving monthly payments of $5,000,...

Remember Me By Salena Zito Time punishes war. The war in Iraq is no exception; as each moment passes, public resolve, politics and passion erode its mission. Collectively, many Americans tend to remember the mistakes and politics that led us there, rather than the faces of the men and women who serve and defend us. Seven months ago, Lizzie Palmer, a young lady from Columbus, Ohio, barely over the threshold of childhood, felt compelled to do her part to remind people of those faces. The result is a stunning video that was showcased on Chris Wallace's Fox News Sunday last...

Seven years ago, there was mass preparation for Y2K, alleged by some to be the end of the world. Believers scurried to save water and canned foods just in case the new millennium brought the immense devastation theories speculated. Again, we are faced with the timeless question of whether our world will endor not. The highly intelligent Ancient Mayan civilization developed an intricate calendar which anticipated the end of their Great Cycle of the Long Count-better known as the apocalypse-on Dec. 21, 2012.

Our planet is just five years away from climate change catastrophe - but can still be saved, according to a new report. Planet is five years from disasterThe World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) warns governments have until 2012 to "plant the seeds of change" and make positive moves to limit carbon emissions. If they fail to do so, the WWF's Vision For 2050 warns "generations to come will have to live with the compromises and hardships caused by their inability to act". "We have a small window of time in which we can plant the seeds of change, and...

Our planet is just five years away from climate change catastrophe - but can still be saved, according to a new report. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) warns governments have until 2012 to "plant the seeds of change" and make positive moves to limit carbon emissions.

SAN DIEGO - A Border Patrol agent who admitted smuggling more than 100 illegal immigrants into the U.S. from Mexico, some of them in his government truck, was sentenced Friday to five years in prison. Prosecutors had asked for about three years, but U.S. District Judge John A. Houston decided a stiffer punishment was required for 29-year-old Oscar Antonio Ortiz. "You violated the sacred trust of your comrades," the judge said. "As a link in the chain, they depended on you." The corruption case is one in a spate involving Border Patrol agents at a time when the agency is...

WASHINGTON - Loyalty and continuity have marked the Bush White House since early on. After two wars, devastating strikes by terrorists and hurricanes, a bruising re-election and countless legislative battles, President Bush's team is continuing the trend — defying history and shakeup rumors to remain almost entirely intact five years in. "They've been there long enough to qualify for the Medicare prescription drug benefit," quipped Paul Light, a professor of organizational studies at New York University. The big question is how much longer Bush's inner circle can hold together. Only a handful of the president's most senior aides have departed...