Free Republic

A Democratic fundraiser who has raised $1 million for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton says he has done nothing wrong and has asked no favors in return, but Norman Hsu didn't mention that he's a wanted man. A California prosecutor says Hsu pleaded no contest to grand theft, was sentenced to three years in prison and then disappeared, The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday. Click here to read the story in The Los Angeles Times. "He is a fugitive," Ronald Smetana, who handled the case for the state attorney general, said in an interview with the newspaper. "Do you know where...

NEW YORK -- Six men from New Jersey have been arrested in an alleged terror plot against soldiers at Fort Dix, according investigators. Investigators said the men planned to use automatic rifles to enter Fort Dix and kill as many soldiers as they could at the N.J. base. Fort Dix was just one of several military and security locations allegedly scouted by this group, authorities said. Investigators told Newschannel 4's Jonathan Dienst that these arrests are the result of a tip to the FBI and use of an informant to track the suspects. Authorities were alerted in January 2006 after...

BAGHDAD — A senior U.S. officer has been charged with nine offenses, including aiding the enemy and fraternizing with the daughter of a detainee while he commanded a military police detachment at an American detention facility near Baghdad, the military said Thursday.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that Arizona may require voters to present proof of citizenship when registering to vote and identification when they cast their ballots in the November 7 elections...

DAMASCUS (AFP) - Islamist gunmen have launched a brazen assault on the US embassy in Damascus, using grenades, automatic weapons and an explosives-laden van in a foiled attack that has left four people dead...

BOMBAY, India — Seven bombs hit Bombay's commuter rail network during rush hour Tuesday evening, killing as many as 100 people and wounding more than 300 in what authorities called a well-coordinated attack. India's major cities were put on high alert after the blasts, and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called an emergency Cabinet meeting. Chaos engulfed the crowded rail network in India's financial capital following the blasts that ripped apart train compartments as authorities struggled to treat the wounded amid heavy monsoon downpours. Doors and windows were blown off the train cars, and luggage and debris were strewn across...

The FBI has uncovered what officials consider a serious plot by jihadists to bomb the Holland Tunnel in hopes of causing a torrent of water to deluge lower Manhattan, the Daily News has learned. The terrorists sought to drown the Financial District as New Orleans was by Hurricane Katrina, sources said. They also wanted to attack subways and other tunnels. Counterterrorism officials are alarmed by the "lone wolf" terror plot because they allegedly got a pledge of financial and tactical support from Jordanian associates of top terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi before he was killed in Iraq, a counterterrorism source told...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - President Bush, seeking to bolster support for Iraq's burgeoning government and U.S. war policy at home, made a surprise visit to Iraq on Tuesday to meet newly named Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and discuss the next steps in the troubled, 3-year-old war. It was a dramatic move by Bush, traveling to violence-rattled Baghdad less than a week after the death of terror chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a bombing attack. The president was expected to be in Baghdad a little more than five hours. Bush met with al-Maliki in heavily fortified green zone at a palace once...

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Monday chose Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden to lead the embattled Central Intelligence Agency, re-igniting a debate over the domestic surveillance program that the onetime head of the National Security Agency once ran. Republican and Democratic critics also questioned the wisdom of putting a military officer in charge of the civilian spy agency. "Mike Hayden is supremely qualified for this position," Bush said in the Oval Office, with Hayden at his side. Without mentioning Hayden's critics or their objections, the president said: "He knows the intelligence community from the ground up." If confirmed, Hayden would...

WASHINGTON - President Bush moved Tuesday to temporarily halt deposits to the nation's strategic petroleum reserve, making more oil available for consumer needs while seeking to relieve pressure on pump prices. Bush also announced steps to ease environmental standards governing fuel grades. The moves came as political pressure intensified on Bush to do something about gasoline prices that are expected to stay high throughout the summer. Bush said the nation's strategic petroleum reserve had enough fuel to guard against any major supply disruption over the next few months. "So, by deferring deposits until the fall, we'll leave a little more...

Monday, April 24, 2006 CAIRO, Egypt — Three explosions Monday night rocked the Egyptian resort city of Dahab at the height of the tourist season, killing at least 17 people and wounding more than 150 at just one hotel, according to the doctor who runs Egypt's Sinai Peninsula rescue squad. Dr. Said Essa said he was headed to the scene of the blasts and that his casualty figures were for victims at the el-Khaleeg Hotel only. He said there were casualties at the scene of the other blasts, but he had no details. Al-Jazeera television said one of the explosions...

WASHINGTON — The Senate sidetracked sweeping immigration legislation Friday, leaving in doubt prospects for passing a bill offering the hope of citizenship to millions of men, women and children living in the United States illegally.

Dana Reeve, who won worldwide admiration for her devotion to her "Superman" husband, Christopher Reeve, through his decade of near-total paralysis, has died of lung cancer at age 44.

Tehran is planning a nuclear weapons test before the Iranian New Year on March 20, 2006

DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Corp. will eliminate 30,000 manufacturing jobs and close nine North American assembly, stamping and powertrain plants by 2008 as part of an effort to get production in line with demand and return the company to profitability and long-term growth. The announcement Monday by Rick Wagoner, chairman and CEO of the world's largest automaker, represents 5,000 more job cuts than the 25,000 that the automaker had previously indicated it planned to cut. GM said the assembly plants that will close are in Oklahoma City, Lansing, Mich., Spring Hill, Tenn., Doraville, Ga., and Ontario, Canada. A shift...

Ryan O'Doherty, a former communications director for the Maryland Democrat Party has been implicated by emails to party members hours before the Washington Post story which started the whole Steffan/MD4Bush/MOM smear saga. Details will emerge later tonight on WBAL radio.

Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, was charged Friday with lying to a grand jury during an investigation of possible intelligence leaks by members of the Bush administration. A five-count indictment unsealed Friday by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald charged only Libby -- it did not name Karl Rove, a key political adviser to President Bush and his assistant chief of staff. Prosecutors reportedly told Rove o Thursday that while he wouldn't face immediate charges, he is still under investigation. The five counts included one of obstruction of justice, two of perjury and two of making false statements...

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Texas grand jury on Wednesday charged Rep. Tom DeLay and two political associates with conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme, an indictment that could force him to step down as House majority leader.

Missing Scout Found Alive in Utah By PAUL FOY, Associated Press Writer An 11-year-old boy who vanished from a Boy Scout camp was found alive and in good condition Tuesday after spending four days lost in the rugged Utah wilderness. Sheriff Dave Edmunds said Brennan Hawkins was "a little dehydrated, a little weak, but other than that, he was in very good health." After downing bottles of water and eating all the granola bars carried by a group of volunteer searchers, the boy asked to play a video game on one rescuer's cell phone, the sheriff said. The youngster from...