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Rulers of the United Arab Emirates were accused in a lawsuit of enslaving tens of thousands of boys over three decades and forcing them to work as jockeys in the popular sport of camel racing. The lawsuit was filed last week by unnamed parents of boys suspected of being abducted, sold and enslaved. They claim more than 30,000 boys could have been victimized and seek class-action status. The lawsuit alleges Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the crown prince of Dubai, and Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum, the deputy ruler, were the most active perpetrators. The lawsuit was filed...

An 83-year-old convicted felon who kept a massive cache of weapons and gunpowder in his Ridgefield home has been indicted, accused of recklessly creating a risk of injury. The indictment was released yesterday, nearly a year after authorities stumbled upon nearly 500 guns, 500 pounds of gunpowder and 100,000 rounds of ammunition in Raymond's home after police officers escorted his disoriented wife to the house. "This is definitely a unique case," Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said. "He had a lot of gunpowder. In the quantities he had, it was a dangerous condition. The bomb squad had to come in...

Interested in an aging sedan that was once part of the state of New Jersey's mighty fleet? Gov. Jon Corzine has a deal for you. Advertisement The Democratic governor, stressing belt-tightening in the midst of a state budget battle, kicked off a fire sale of 809 used cars he says will shrink the number of state passenger vehicles to 9,995. Corzine announced a series of Saturday summer auctions starting July 8 he hopes will bring in up to $1 million. He said the state will save another $1 million a year on fuel and maintenance costs by cutting its fleet...

Suffolk County has the highest percentage of residents in the state who have negative opinions about undocumented immigrants, according to a statewide poll conducted for Newsday/NY1 and released Friday. The survey found that Suffolk is the only county in New York where more registered voters think immigrants in the country illegally have had a negative impact on their communities rather than a positive impact.

FORT LEE -- The proposal is straightforward and well intentioned: A Korean-English bilingual class where Korean-speaking children would learn English, and English-speaking students would be taught Korean, a language growing in use in pockets of northern New Jersey. But officials are struggling to sell the concept to parents, particularly families of English-speaking students. At School 3, where such a program would be launched, parents raised questions about whether the class, known as a dual-language immersion program, was practical. "English is hard enough as it is to learn," said Maureen Stitham, adding she didn't think the class would be ideal for...

A group of Mexican Catholic community groups said on Thursday the church may be using hot-button issues like abortion to sway voters in favor of the conservative ruling party candidate in the presidential election. They said workshops and other forums arranged by church leaders could illegally interfere in the July 2 election, taking advantage of ties with President Vicente Fox and his National Action Party, or PAN. "The risk of the Catholic hierarchy influencing votes has been greater in these federal elections than in others due to its closeness to the federal executive," said Guadalupe Cruz, speaking on behalf of...

No one is much surprised that outspoken conservative columnist Ann Coulter attacks environmentalists and Bill Clinton in her new book, "Godless: The Church of Liberalism." But Coulter has raised eyebrows by taking aim at a different target: The widows of 9/11 victims.

Former star banker guilty of $20M fraud Once one of Miami's most prominent bankers, Eduardo A. Masferrer was found guilty Wednesday of masterminding a $20 million bank fraud and then weaving a web of lies to conceal it. After only a few hours of deliberation, 12 jurors averted their eyes as they filed into federal court in Miami and then sat stone-faced as the court deputy read 16 guilty counts against Masferrer, the former chairman and CEO of Hamilton Bank. It was a stunning reversal for Masferrer, who was once the toast of Miami banking and charitable circles. During his...

For the past decade, U.S. lawmakers have put off immigration reform because nobody could agree on how best to regulate the flow. They still can't, as Washington's recent sorry scramble to craft a fix attests. But the stark disparity between job opportunities and living standards in America and many poor countries has resulted in such an influx of undocumented aliens (now between 10 million and 12 million, more than half from Mexico) that Congress and the White House must act.

Zurich is the city with the highest quality of life in 2006, while Baghdad, for the third year running, has the lowest, a survey published Monday shows. Geneva and Vancouver made the top three in the list compiled by human resource company Mercer while Bangui in the Central African Republic and Brazzaville, the capital of Congo Republic, joined Baghdad in the bottom three. The top three cities in the list are all unchanged from last year. Chicago is one of the biggest climbers in the rankings since 2005, rising to 41st from 52nd due to reduced crime rates, while Cairo...

ATLANTA - Delta Air Lines Inc. pilots, angered by management's effort to throw out their contract and impose deep pay cuts, voted by a wide margin to authorize a strike, union leaders said Tuesday. The 94.7 percent vote in favor of authorizing a strike gives union leaders the authority to set a strike date. They didn't set a date immediately and gave no indication when they might act. The results were announced in a memo to pilots from the chairman of the union's executive committee, Lee Moak. An arbitration panel must decide by April 15 whether to void the pilots...

The home of the King of Rock 'n' Roll joined the homes of presidents past and present in becoming a National Historic Landmark Monday. Graceland, where Elvis Presley died in 1977, joins the White House, Mount Vernon and Monticello in receiving the country's highest designation for historic properties. "It would be difficult to tell the story of the 20th century without discussing the many contributions made by this legendary, iconic artist," Interior Secretary Gale Norton said during a ceremony at Presley's famous Memphis mansion. "It didn't take Americans and the rest of the world long to discover Elvis Presley," Norton...

VITORIA, Spain - The Basque separatist group ETA announced a permanent cease-fire Wednesday, ending a decades-long campaign of violence and closing the door on one of Western Europe's last active armed separatist movements. The news prompted quiet jubilation in Spain, which has endured more than 800 deaths and $15.5 billion in economic damage since the 1960s as part of the group's campaign to carve out an independent Basque homeland in northern Spain and southwest France. In a video statement, ETA said it "has decided to declare a permanent cease fire as of March 24, 2006."

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. aims to be the mass-market provider of organic food, and will have doubled its organic offerings over the next couple of weeks, Wal-Mart's head of dry grocery told Reuters on Monday. DeDe Priest, who was promoted to senior vice president of dry grocery in December, said the retailer has no intention of becoming a health food store, but wants to make organic food accessible to all.

Half a century ago, millions of young white couples left America's central cities for greener places to build homes and rear families. Their move created booming commuter communities and a new way of life. But that idealized picture has been transformed and the future of those pioneering suburbs is in jeopardy, according to a study issued yesterday by the Brookings Institution, a research group in Washington.

Just over half of new infections with the AIDS virus in the United States are in blacks, U.S. researchers reported on Monday. A study of detailed data from 33 states shows that of 156,000 new cases of HIV infection between 2001 and 2004, 51 percent were in non-Hispanic blacks -- although blacks made up just 13 percent of the population in those states. The good news is that the rate of new infections declined in black women and in many black men -- with the exception of men having sex with other men, the team at the U.S. Centers for...

Being that everyone is entitled to a frivolous vanity every once in awhile, I have decided to dedicate mine to the beauty of the women of Free Republic. You ladies are beautiful in your mind, wit, and hearts. Many of you are also quite attractive physically as well. Here's your chance to post photos or make comments that will drive us male freepers wild.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ben Bernanke, nominated to be Federal Reserve chairman, on Tuesday vowed to fight for U.S. price stability, and said while a stated inflation goal could improve monetary policy, he would not rush such a step. "If I am confirmed, I am confident that my colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee and I will maintain the focus on long-term price stability as monetary policy's greatest contribution to general economic prosperity and maximum employment," Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee at his confirmation hearing. An avowed fan of openly stated inflation targets, which outgoing Fed chief Alan Greenspan...