Free Republic

VENLO, Netherlands - Do you find your fingers drifting into your mouth when you're nervous, anxious or just bored? Are your nails chewed to splinters or your cuticles gnawed to bleeding pulp? Nail biting is more than a bad habit. Doctors say it is one of the most common symptoms of stress or of an obsessive-compulsive disorder, especially for teenagers or younger children, and can lead to disfigurement and serious infection. Alain-Raymond van Abbe, a former health industry and cosmetics promoter, estimates the world's pathological nail biters number 600 million or more. He saw that onychophagy was so widespread that...

Mike Johnson slumped his big frame onto a rock formation in the foothills of the Superstition Mountains, pulled off his baseball cap and ran a hand through his long, sweaty hair. “Wicked,” he said in a thick New England accent. Johnson and his companions took a breather Monday morning, exhausted from the 95-degree heat and the hike up the looming fortress of stone. After a few minutes, he dug a battered walking stick into the dirt and continued the ascent. The hikers intended to press deep into the mountains in search of a fortune some say is only legend: The...

Dutchman Johan Huibers is building a working replica of Noah's Ark as a testament to his Christian faith. The 47-year-old from Schagen, 45km (30 miles) north of Amsterdam, plans to set sail in September through the interior waters of the Netherlands. Johan's Ark is a fifth of the size of Noah's and will carry farmyard animals. Mr Huibers, who plans to open the vessel as a religious monument and zoo, hopes the project will renew interest in Christianity in the Netherlands. Although Mr Huibers has tried to remain true to the ark described in the Bible, Johan's Ark is constructed...

Television viewers in the Netherlands have voted the right-wing politician Pim Fortuyn, killed in 2002, the greatest Dutchman of all time. Mr Fortuyn, who inflamed Dutch society with fierce anti-immigration rhetoric, was shot by an animal rights activist. He beat the first William of Orange - the 17th-Century founder of the modern Dutch state - into second place. The vote came amid racial and religious tension after film-maker Theo van Gogh was shot dead by a Muslim extremist. Before his murder, Pim Fortuyn's right-wing List party was poised to make large gains in the general election of 2002, campaigning on...

BRUSSELS (AFP) - Former Dutch foreign minister Jaap de Hoop Scheffer took over as NATO head pledging to act with "vigour" at a crucial time for the alliance, as it faces key challenges in Afghanistan and possibly Iraq. Keeping US-Europe relations on an even keel will be a key priority, he said Monday, while adding that bolstering a NATO-led peacekeeping force in Afghanistan must be the alliance's "primary focus" for the moment. "There will be no lack of challenges.." said De Hoop Scheffer as he arrived for his first day of work at the alliance's Brussels headquarters adding that he...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Hopes that a woman might at last become secretary-general of NATO were snuffed out on Thursday as Norway's defense minister pulled out of the race, leaving a Dutchman and a Canadian in the frame. It may be too early to make a call on a selection process Washington's envoy to NATO says is as arcane as electing a pope. But diplomats said Dutch Foreign Minister Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has a clear edge over Canadian Finance Minister John Manley. Indeed, in announcing that she was not a candidate for the Western defense alliance's top political job, Norwegian...

According to security services, a Dutch chemist is suspected to have been involved with the banned weapons program of Saddam Hussein. It is the 60 year old Frans van A. from Den Helder. This was reported by the newspaper 'De Telegraaf' on Saturday. Van A. is probebly hiding in Baghdad, heavily guarded by the Iraqi Republican Guards. He has been under surveillance by the Dutch security service AIVD for several years. According to the AIVD, it is an 'unique situation', because Van A. is one of the few foreigners that has intensive contacts to the regime of Saddam Hussein. Also...

Wednesday, 8 May, 2002, 07:05 GMT 08:05 UKFortuyn murder suspect to face court A man accused of murdering the charismatic anti-immigration politician, Pim Fortuyn, is due to appear in court on Wednesday in Amsterdam. The 32-year-old Dutchman was arrested shortly after Mr Fortuyn was gunned down outside a radio station on Monday, just over a week before the politician was due to stand in the country's general elections. Fortuyn: Described Islam as "backward" The public prosecutor said ammunition found at the suspect's house matched the calibre of the bullets which killed Mr Fortuyn. Reports say the accused, who is from...