Free Republic

Google Translated: Tegucigalpa, Honduras . . The youth of Generation for Change and protested, as they always did so at peace, with much imagination and sense of humor. The act was developed against Presidential House, where more than a month ago officials from Manuel Zelaya Rosales ordered loot the vaults of the Central Bank, which investigates corruption case the Public Prosecutor. Personify known former ministers and a close collaborator of Zelaya, youth walked along the street that passes in front of the headquarters of the executive branch pushing carts (masonry) for simulating load sacks full of money. The act of...

Nearly 200 federally funded volunteer coordinators will soon start work recruiting people to help dozens of New York City community service organizations. Mayor Michael Bloomberg swore in 193 members of the NYC Civic CorpsMayor Michael Bloomberg helped swear in the 193 members of the NYC Civic Corps' first class Thursday. He was joined by Nicola Goren, the acting CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. The corporation is the federal agency that runs AmeriCorps VISTA, which is providing the NYC Civic Corps members. They'll work full-time for a modest living allowance, health benefits and education grants.

WASHINGTON, July 12 (Reuters) - The United States will spend an another $1 billion for ingredients for an H1N1 vaccination, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Sunday. "There'll be another $1 billion worth of orders placed to get the bulk ingredients for an H1N1 vaccination. Congress has agreed with the president that this is the number one priority, keeping Americans safe and secure," Sebelius said on CNN. Sebelius has said plans were on track for a mid-October vaccination program, although it was not certain Americans would be offered the vaccine for the so-called swine flu.

The political crisis in Honduras had its origin in the fear of many Hondurans that their country would become another Venezuela. True or not, that triggered the ouster of a president. Manuel Zelaya was afraid to seek reelection in a way illegal and that Honduras had an authoritarian government. And it poured. These are the conclusions I took after a conversation from Tegucigalpa to the president of Honduras, Roberto Micheletti. The solution-get Zelaya with military and non-isolated with a view to Honduras and the world was seen by the UN and the OAS as a flagrant violation of democracy. Micheletti...

WASHINGTON, July 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. government voiced concern on Wednesday over actions taken by Niger's President Mamadou Tandja to extend his rule in the West African country. "These decisions undermine Niger's efforts over the last ten years to advance good governance and the rule of law," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement. Tandja responded to the rejection by Niger's highest court of his plan to seek at least another three years in power by sacking the judges and naming a new Cabinet. ....U.S. concern about the situation in Niger comes at a time when Washington...

WASHINGTON, June 30 (Reuters) - The World Bank has "paused" all program lending to Honduras following a military coup in the impoverished country, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Tuesday. "We're working closely with the OAS (Organization of American States) and looking to the OAS to deal with its handling of the crisis under its democratic charter," Zoellick told reporters, "In the process we have put a pause with our lending."

* Zelaya invited to come and speak 'as soon as possible' * Assembly president urges U.N. body to denounce coup * U.S. envoy joins OAS in demanding Zelaya restoration (Recasts with Zelaya to address General Assembly on Tuesday) By Patrick Worsnip UNITED NATIONS, June 29 (Reuters) - Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya is expected to address the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday at the invitation of the Assembly president, officials said on Monday. Assembly spokesman Enrique Yeves said Zelaya was expected to speak before the 192-nation body at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT). The Honduran military seized Zelaya and flew...

The United Bermuda Party today moved for a motion of no confidence against the Government led by Premier Ewart Brown. Opposition leader Kim Swan proposed the motion in the House of Assembly this morning. He said it was necessary as the Island is “increasingly subject to the politics of one man rule”. Said Mr. Swan: “Why have we moved a motion of no confidence? The public affairs of Bermuda are increasingly subject to the politics of one man rule under the Premier, Dr. Ewart Brown. We consider this unhealthy and not in Bermuda’s best interest. “This is not just about...

At Least Four Shootings Reported In Recent Weeks TUSTIN, Calif. -- Another freeway shooting occured in the Los Angeles area, this time on the 55 Freeway in Tustin early on Sunday morning. It's the fifth one in the past several weeks; the four previous victims have died.

BOSTON (AP) - A meteor shower Sunday night sparked a flurry of frantic phone calls to police departments across New England from people who saw bright lights moving in the sky, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration said.

CAIRO, Egypt - A woman pulled a pistol on Iraq’s defense minister in his office but then broke down in tears in a failed assassination plot hatched by an Iraqi group in Syria, the minister said in comments published on Saturday. Hazim al-Shaalan told the pan-Arab al-Hayat newspaper the 40-year-old woman had drawn the gun, loaded with poisoned bullets, during a meeting with him and other officials more than one week ago.

Kevin Sites, the NBC "journalist" who shot the video of the United States Marine capping that terrorist..... guess what, turns out he doesn't work for NBC - he is a freelancer, and he doesn't appear to be a journalist either, not in the traditional sense anyway. More in the vein of Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! Sites, it turns out, is an anti-war activist who posts his work here: http://www.imagesagainstwar.com/index.php?display=522 and maintains a blog here: http://www.kevinsites.net/ Here is NBC defending Sites, on al Jazeera no less! http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/4F50C464-605B-48FE-B8C9-D19213A61B04.htm

WASHINGTON - Despite gaining their freedom by signing pledges to renounce violence, at least seven former prisoners of the United States at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have returned to terrorism, at times with deadly consequences.

Saudi government objects to terms of release Yaser Esam Hamdi, center, was captured in Afghanistan in 2001. RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (CNN) -- The U.S.-born, Saudi national who has spent nearly three years in U.S. custody as an enemy combatant was still being held Wednesday night. Yaser Esam Hamdi, 24, remained in a U.S. Navy brig in South Carolina as U.S. and Saudi officials haggled over terms of his release, a deal that was reached last week between Hamdi's attorney and the Justice Department.

ATLANTA (AP) - Former President Carter said Wednesday that the apparent open-ended presence of U.S. troops in Iraq has contributed to the wave of hostage-takings and other bloodshed.

PARIS, Sept 6 (Reuters) - France has expressed solidarity with Russia but wants all "necessary information" about Moscow's handling of the Beslan school seizure, French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said on Monday. In comments similar to remarks by the European Union's Dutch presidency which triggered a diplomatic row with Moscow at the weekend, Raffarin said France constantly reminded Russia of the need to respect human rights. Responding to a call from Socialist party leader Francois Hollande for French authorities to demand an "explanation" from Moscow, Raffarin said in a live debate on RTL radio: "We have already done so."

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russian officials said Friday they detected traces of a high explosive in the wreckage of one of two crashed jetliners, branding it the work of terrorists, while an Islamic group claimed its suicide attackers brought down both planes because of the war in Chechnya. At least one crash was "the result of a terrorist act," a spokesman for the Federal Security Service, Sergei Ignatchenko, told the ITAR-Tass news agency. In Washington, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said evidence was growing that both crashes "were acts of terrorism." Russia's leaders didn't speculate publicly about who might be responsible...

BANGKOK, June 27 (Xinhuanet) -- A former deputy village chief in southern Thailand was decapitated by local insurgents a few hours before Thai prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra toured the region on Sunday. The victim was found beheaded by knife on Sunday morning around 6:00 a.m. in the Saiburi district of the Pattani Province, which lies some 1,000 kilometers south of Bangkok and close to Malaysia to the south. Authorities were now carrying on related investigation and suspected the crime was from hands of insurgents responsible for the region's violence in the past months, local police said. Thaksin was expected to...

Kirkuk - Two headless bodies were found on Friday in the restive Iraqi city of Kirkuk, where police were on high alert after deadly attacks in four other cities the previous day, officials said. "The two corpses were discovered in bags by the police, who have no idea who the victims are except that they look Iraqi," said a police source. One torso was spotted on the main road to Salimaniyah and the second in the Askari district, the sources said. "We don't know if they are Kurds, Turkmen or Arabs," he said, adding that "the inquiry will be difficult"....

A 4.5-magnitude earthquake rattled parts of northern California early Thursday. There were no reports of damage or injuries. The earthquake was centered on the small town of King's Beach at 1:55 a.m. (4:55 EDT), according to Stephanie Hanna, communications chief for the western region of the United States Geological Survey. "I thought a car hit our building," said Suzanne Melton-Johnson a dispatcher for the Placer County Sheriff's Department where King's Beach is located. The epicenter was about 15 miles southwest of Reno, Nev.