Free Republic

SEATTLE -- Bright flashes and sharp booms were reported in the skies over the Puget Sound area early Thursday, and aviation officials said a meteor may have been the source. An early report that a meteor might have hit near Chehalis, about 90 miles south of the city, turned out to be false, a University of Washington scientist who specializes in meteorites said. Toby Smith, a lecturer in astronomy, told The Associated Press scientists were looking into the cause of the skybursts reported over a wide area about 2:40 a.m. Witnesses along a 60-mile swath of the sound from near...

Five British men released from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba were enjoying a taste of freedom with their families yesterday as they considered lucrative media offers to describe their experiences in the US prison camp over the past two years.

Convicted cleric and suspected Jemaah Islamiah spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir could be free as soon as next month after Indonesia's highest court cut his forgery sentence for the second time. In another victory for the Muslim firebrand, Indonesia's Supreme Court reduced Bashir's sentence to one and a half years, meaning he could be free by April allowing for time already served in jail. Bashir's lawyer Mahendradatta said the court was yet to issue a formal statement about the reduction. But a Supreme Court official confirmed the sentence had been halved from three years to one and a half years....

Whirlwind Treatment of Afghan Herds Aims to Win Hearts of Rural People GOSHTA DISTRICT, Afghanistan -- The village square seemed deserted when the U.S. military convoy arrived, except for a dog or two snoozing in the sun. But as word started to spread, a lone boy approached on the back of a rickety donkey. Then a girl appeared pulling a balky heifer on a rope. By noon Monday the spot was swarming with herds of sheep and goats, the air was filled with panicked bleats and cowboy whoops, and mayhem reigned. American and Afghan veterinarians chased runaway oxen, wrestled recalcitrant...

BURAIDAH, 14 February 2004 — Saudi religious authorities have warned the public against celebrating Valentine’s Day or selling gifts related to the feast, Al-Riyadh reported yesterday. “It is a pagan Christian holiday and Muslims who believe in God and Judgment Day should not celebrate or acknowledge it or congratulate people on it,” an edict issued by the Fatwa Committee said. “There are only two holidays in Islam — Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha — and any other holidays, whether to celebrate an individual, group or event, are inventions which Muslims are banned from,” said the committee, headed by Grand Mufti...

<p>BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- Two Buddhist monks have been slashed to death in separate roadside attacks in southern Thailand, two days after a similar attack which police blamed on Muslim extremists.</p> <p>The killings -- which police said appeared to be coordinated and simultaneous -- took place 10 kilometers apart at about 6 a.m. local time Saturday in Yala, about 1,100 kilometers south of Bangkok, police said.</p>