Free Republic

DETROIT - A Cleveland imam convicted of hiding terrorist ties has agreed to leave the United States, ending his deportation case, his attorney and government officials said Thursday. The agreement allows Fawaz Damra to resettle in Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Egypt or the Palestinian territories, said Greg Gagne, a spokesman for the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review. A judge has approved the agreement with the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which will decide his destination. Damra is still in federal custody, said Robert Birach, a Detroit lawyer who negotiated for him. He declined to discuss more...

Cell phones prove deadly Contributor in 14 fatalities this year on Toll Road, police say By Joshua Stowe South Bend Tribune Posted on Sun, Dec. 25, 2005 ELKHART – Nick Vilders sees his cell phone as a lifesaver. The Orland man said he’s placed countless calls to stay awake while driving home after a day’s work as a building maintenance employee on the Indiana Toll Road. “I have a cell phone, I ain’t gonna lie,” Vilders said. Police and safety experts say Vilders’ attitude, while common, puts him at risk. They say it’s a mistake to think a person can...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2005 – U.S. forces need to remain in Iraq until their job is finished, particularly in light of progress already made, the commander of a Texas Army National Guard brigade that's wrapping up its deployment there told Pentagon reporters today. Army Col. James "Red" Brown, commander of the 56th Brigade Combat Team, spoke by videoconference from Logistics Support Area Anaconda, near Balad. Brown said he's seen steady signs of progress during his brigade's 11 months in Iraq. During that time, 3,500 members of the "Thunderbolt Brigade" have conducted 7,000 combat logistics patrols, escorting more than 150,000 logistics...

10/31/2005 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- It was to deliver a message of inspiration and support that led five members of the famed Tuskegee Airmen to visit the members of the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing here Oct. 29. However, during a question-and-answer session here at their last stop in the region before returning home, the Tuskegee Airmen admitted they were as inspired by the troops as the other way around. “We were asked to bring inspiration to you. Instead, we found something extraordinary here on this trip,” said retired Col. Dick Tolliver, a second-generation Tuskegee Airmen who served from 1963-1989....

Top Dems leave as protest nears Party split between anti-war activists and prominent critics STEVEN THOMMA Knight Ridder Posted on Fri, Sep. 23, 2005 WASHINGTON - As the anti-war movement arrives in Washington this weekend, many Democrats are leaving. Nationally known Democratic war critics, including Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Russell Feingold of Wisconsin and John Kerry of Massachusetts, won't attend what sponsors say will be a big anti-war rally Saturday in Washington. **SNIP** En route to Washington for the rally, anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan protested outside Clinton's New...

Scores of Mississippi National Guard troops in Iraq who lost homes to Hurricane have been refused even 15-day leaves to aid their displaced families, told by commanders there were too few U.S. troops in Iraq to spare them... Developing...

NEW ORLEANS - The last 300 refugees in the Superdome climbed aboard buses Saturday bound for new temporary shelter, leaving behind a darkened and stinking arena strewn with trash. The sight of the last person — an elderly man wearing a Houston Rockets cap — prompted cheers from members of the Texas National Guard who were guarding the facility. "I feel like I've been here 40 years," said Louis Dalmas Sr., one of the last people out of the arena. "Any bus going anywhere — that's all I want." Inside and outside the Superdome — including the concourse around it...

Ocala, Florida - Marion County authorities say an Ocala man made up a story about killing a hitchhiker and burying the body in the woods in an effort to persuade his wife to leave him. Teddy Akin has been charged with making a false report and petit theft. He is being held without bail. According to the sheriff's office, Akin initially told investigators he killed a hitchhiker he picked up when the two got into an argument over how far Akin would drive him. He told investigators that he dumped the body in a forest near a gun range, and...

MUSLIMS who resent the British way of life should leave the UK, regardless of whether they are citizens or not, a senior Conservative said last night in comments that have heightened already tense community relations. Gerald Howarth, the shadow defence minister, last night told The Scotsman that extremist Muslims who see the Iraq war as a conflict against Islam should be considered as treacherous as Soviet sympathisers during the Cold War. His remarkable claim shatters the tri-party consensus which Michael Howard, the Tory leader, sought to make with Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, and the Liberal Democrats. Mr Howarth said...

Confirmed: Sex minigame in PS2 San Andreas Cheat unlocks preexisting code in controversy-rocked Grand Theft Auto game, undermining Rockstar Games' claims of hacker mischief. This week saw a Grand Theft Auto game once again at the center of a nationwide controversy. The point of contention this time was the so-called "Hot Coffee" mod for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which had everyone from anti-game crusader Jack Thompson to US Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) percolating with outrage and/or calls for federal game regulation. The Hot Coffee mod first surfaced last month, when the PC version of San Andreas was released. The...

SACRAMENTO -- State legislators wrapped up work Friday for a monthlong summer recess with focus already sharply shifted to the looming battle over the November special-election agenda and an August deadline for compromise on ballot measures. With a state budget approved and out of the way, the legislators will spend the next 30 days at home in their districts while legislative leaders ostensibly work with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to craft a compromise on his special-election agenda that both sides can live with. Yet with discussions currently occurring only at the staff level and Democrats having little motivation -- politically or...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Militants took control of a Gaza neighborhood Friday after a shootout with Palestinian troops left two teenagers dead, and Israeli airstrikes killed five militants in a flare-up of violence that threatened an already tattered truce. Palestinian security forces, under pressure to stop attacks on Israel, went on high alert. Israeli troops massed at two makeshift camps outside the volatile coastal strip. As militants launched at least 53 rockets and mortars against Israeli targets between Thursday afternoon and Friday afternoon, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz summoned top generals to a meeting to decide on a course...

  To begin 4th of July weekend, U.S. soldiers spend the afternoon around a swimming pool outside a former Saddam Hussein palace, which is now part of the U.S. military base Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, July 3, 2005. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed) AP - Jul 03 10:56 AM To begin the 4th of July weekend, U.S. soldiers spend the afternoon around a swimming pool outside a former Saddam Hussein palace which is now part of the U.S. military base Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, July 3, 2005. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed) AP - Jul 03 10:49 AMTo begin 4th of July weekend, U.S....

A Valley soldier’s mother asked Action 4 News to take action Tuesday night to help bring her son home. Barbie Gunter, of La Feria, e-mailed the Listens Line looking for ways to get a refund on an airline ticket that would bring her son, Todd, back home to the Valley for a visit. Barbie Gunter, a kindergarten teacher, is still moving into her new second-story apartment in La Feria. She said that the challenges of moving into her new home with two of her sons is nothing compared to the battle she's facing trying to bring her eldest son, Todd,...

Leave Bush alone, Geldof warns stars By Hugh Davies (Filed: 21/06/2005) Bob Geldof has reportedly warned a top recording artist not to publicly criticise the White House during the worldwide television broadcast of the Live 8 concerts next month. The warning came after Geldof insisted that President George W Bush had done more for Africa than any other American leader. The manager of the singer was quoted as having been told: "Please remember, absolutely no ranting and raving about Bush or Blair and the Iraq war. We want to bring Bush in, not run him away." Geldof was said to...

Mugabe's raids leave townships in tatters By David Blair, Africa Correspondent (Filed: 03/06/2005) Desperate people picked through the wreckage of their homes yesterday after Zimbabwe's police raided Harare's townships, destroying "illegal shelters" and leaving 10,000 homeless. Riot police conducting "Operation Drive Out the Rubbish" were accused of bringing misery to the urban poor, the latest target of President Robert Mugabe's campaign of terror. Children wait with their belongings after their home was destroyed In one township Irish missionaries were forced to dismantle a clinic and a creche for children orphaned by the Aids epidemic. Police demolished shacks inhabited by impoverished...

Search for Leader Exacerbates NAACP Woes By ERIN TEXEIRA, AP National Writer Sat May 21, 5:35 PM ET AP Photo: Kweisi Mfume, left, president and chief executive officer of the NAACP, with Julian Bond, NAACP... Perennial worries about the effectiveness of the 96-year-old NAACP have been heightened recently by the ongoing search for a president to replace Kweisi Mfume, who resigned last year and has since been accused of giving preferential office treatment to an employee he was dating, creating a toxic work atmosphere. Add in financial worries and an IRS query into its nonprofit status after group leaders made...

NAJAF, Iraq (AP) - Anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr came out of hiding Monday for the first time since his fighters clashed with American forces in August, delivering a fiery speech demanding that coalition forces leave Iraq and that Saddam Hussein be punished. Al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric whose militia battled U.S. forces in Baghdad and Najaf last year, held a press conference in his father's home in this holy Shiite Muslim city, 100 miles south of Baghdad. Al-Sadr criticized the American-led occupation and called for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. He also demanded punishment for Saddam, who...

Officers using leave to work as Iraq guards By Christopher Munnion in Johannesburg (Filed: 28/04/2005) The South African military has imposed restrictions on officers after it was revealed that dozens are using extended leave to moonlight as security guards in Iraq, where they can earn more than a year's salary in a month.The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) believes that mainly white serving officers are accumulating leave in order to make a lucrative tour of unofficial duty in Iraq's flourishing security industry. "Many South Africans return from Baghdad with stories of earning up to US $1,000 a day," said...

For over a decade I’ve tried to convince people in the pro-life movement that leaving the Republican Party wasn’t a good move. The past few days has changed my mind, and I started to write this article when the news broke that Terri died. Florida has shown us that the best that the GOP has to offer is a losing strategy. For decades abortion has remained “legal” due to the same problems which were present in Florida: an arrogant judiciary and an unwilling executive branch. The call for Jeb to refuse to enforce the illicit orders of Judge Greer went...