Free Republic

LONDON (Reuters) - Maverick British lawmaker George Galloway on Tuesday angrily rejected new U.S. accusations that he profited from the U.N. oil-for-food program for Iraq. The flamboyant parliamentarian, an outspoken opponent of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, challenged Congressmen to charge him with perjury and pledged to fly out to Washington on the next plane to defend himself. U.S. congressional investigators say they have evidence that Galloway profited from the U.N. program. They also allege he knowingly made false or misleading statements to Congress in May when he denied the charges. The Senate governmental affairs subcommittee on investigations will hand...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A federal judge ruled Monday that prosecutors can use a confession by a man charged with joining al-Qaida and plotting to assassinate President Bush, despite defense claims that the confession was obtained through torture. The ruling came after a six-day hearing in which Ahmed Omar Abu Ali testified that Saudi Arabian security officers whipped his back, kicked him in the stomach and pulled on his beard to obtain a confession. U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee issued a one-page ruling and said he would explain his reasoning in a forthcoming order. Abu Ali's lawyers wanted the confession...

WASHINGTON - House Republicans on Tuesday rejected a Democratic resolution to name a post office in Berkeley, Calif., after a longtime local activist and city councilwoman, saying 94-year-old Maudelle Shirek doesn't represent American values. The 215-190 vote was an unusual refusal of an honor that's normally routine. House rules allow lawmakers to propose renaming post offices in their district, and fellow lawmakers usually agree without debate. But Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, who led the opposition, said Shirek's background "sets her apart from, I will say, the most consistent of American values." King gave no details in a speech on the...

NEW YORK - A federal judge Monday rejected a government argument that he was interfering with the president's constitutional authority to wage war by insisting that Guantanamo Bay detainees be asked if they want their names to be made public. The government raised the objection after U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff last month ordered the Defense Department to pose the question to detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, naval base. The judge wrote that the argument was without merit, and that it was offered improperly after he had already rejected the government's other reasons for insisting that the...

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran rejected on Sunday a resolution by the U.N. atomic watchdog agency that would refer the country to the U.N. Security Council over its disputed nuclear program. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki called the resolution, approved Saturday by the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, "political, illegal and illogical." The minister said the resolution removed any doubt that Britain, France and Germany -- the three key European countries that had been negotiating with Iran to try to avert referral to the council -- have violated previous agreements with Tehran. "The three European countries implemented a pre-planned scenario...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A Senate committee on Wednesday recommended removing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's appointee to head the state Air Resources Board, an agency that has led the nation in cutting air pollution and reducing automobile emissions. A vote by the full Senate was scheduled for Thursday. The committee, on a party-line vote, cited the polarizing influence of Cindy Tuck as chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board. She has held the job for just six weeks after two decades representing the oil and energy industries. The air board has enacted numerous regulations that have been mimicked by other states and...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - The state Senate on Thursday rejected Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to reorganize California's energy agencies. On a 26-12 vote, lawmakers opposed the governor's plan to consolidate four state agencies under a new Cabinet-level secretary of energy. Schwarzenegger said the plan would centralize decision-making and improve accountability. Democrats in the Senate said it violated the state Constitution. "Nobody here is disputing that we need a comprehensive energy policy," said Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Norwalk. "You cannot transfer duties from the PUC to an executive body ... You have to follow a process." In June, the Legislature's lawyers said such...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A state appellate court upheld the murder conviction Friday of a man who said he was sleepwalking when he stabbed and beat his girlfriend to death in a hotel room on Catalina Island. Stephen Otto Reitz is serving a sentence of 26 years to life in state prison for the Oct. 1, 2001, killing of Eva Marie Weinfurter. A three-judge panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal found that physical evidence and the nature of Weinfurter's injuries suggested that Reitz attacked her while awake. The decision said she was hit with a flower pot and...

In a major victory for the voters of Arizona and the integrity of the referendum process, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today dismissed a lawsuit brought by illegal aliens in Arizona challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 200. The San Francisco-based court ruled that the plaintiffs lacked the “legal standing” necessary to challenge the initiative approved by Arizona voters in November 2004.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A trade tribunal has rejected a Canadian company's challenge to California's ban on the gasoline additive MTBE under the North American Free Trade Agreement. Methanex Corp., which produces an MTBE component called methanol, had filed a $970 million claim against the United States under NAFTA six years ago. The Vancouver-based firm claimed the state ban was aimed at removing foreign competition for American makers of ethanol, a potential substitute for MTBE, or methyl tertiary-butyl ether. The U.S. State Department has not officially announced the ruling and declined to comment on the case, said spokesman Steven Pike....

WASHINGTON (AP) - An effort by environmental groups to block the Bush administration from implementing regulations on mercury pollution power plants was rejected by a federal appeals court. Without comment, Judges David Sentelle and Janice Rogers Brown of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied a motion to halt immediately the regulations adopted in March by the Environmental Protection Agency. The rules set a nationwide cap on mercury emissions from about 600 coal-burning power plants and puts a ceiling on allowable pollution for each state beginning in 2010. Individual plants, however, can avoid cleanups by buying...

Asylum rejects cost taxpayer £300m By Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor (Filed: 19/07/2005) The taxpayer picked up a bill of more than £300 million last year to support failed asylum seekers who should have been removed from the country, spending watchdogs report today. The National Audit Office says most of this sum was spent looking after an estimated 18,500 families with dependent children who are entitled to continuing support until they leave the country. A further £285 million was spent to support the voluntary repatriation of some failed asylum seekers or to enforce the deportation of others. The number removed...

WASHINGTON (AP) - States lost a bid Friday to force the Bush administration to regulate heat-trapping industrial gases that have been blamed for global warming. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the Environmental Protection Agency acted properly when it rejected a nonprofit group's petition. The group had asked EPA to impose new controls on carbon dioxide and other automobile pollutants that scientists say trap heat in the atmosphere like a greenhouse. Tom Reilly, the Massachusetts attorney general, said the states probably would ask for the full appeals court to hear the...

WASHINGTON - A leading Senate Democrat rejected a GOP offer on Wednesday to end the impasse over the nomination of John R. Bolton to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Republican Sen. Pat Roberts (news, bio, voting record), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, offered to disclose some information about secret intelligence intercepts that Democrats have sought. Democrats want the names of U.S. individuals mentioned in the intercepts that the National Security Agency gathered and that Bolton requested — and received — while he was the State Department's chief arms control official. Sen. Christopher Dodd (news, bio, voting record),...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The plea heard from the conference floor, from nation after nation, seems simple: Since we don't have nuclear weapons, please guarantee you won't use yours on us. It's the U.S. response - no - that isn't so simple, entangled as it is in the secret plans and dark visions of nuclear strategists. Demands for a treaty enshrining such guarantees are a major issue before the U.N. conference that opened this week to review the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the 1970 pact by which more than 180 nations renounce atomic bombs forever in exchange for a pledge by...

Supreme Court rejects Schiavo appeal Feeding tube to be removed from brain-damaged woman Friday Thursday, March 17, 2005 Posted: 9:45 PM EST (0245 GMT) Terri Schiavo gets a kiss from her mother, Mary Schindler, in this August 11, 2001, image taken from videotape. (CNN) -- Less than 18 hours before Terri Schiavo was scheduled to have her life-sustaining feeding tube removed, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an emergency appeal by her parents to stop the procedure. The court rejected the appeal by Bob and Mary Schindler on Thursday, clearing the way for Schiavo's husband, Michael, to have the feeding tube...

Congressional candidate Doris Matsui on Tuesday dismissed charges that her former partnership with a Sacramento developer could pose a conflict of interest and, in a reversal, said she may debate other candidates. "If an organization that represents the interests of the voters comes forward that is inclusive of everyone, issues-focused and true to the principle of informing voters, then I would entertain that kind of venue," she said in a telephone interview. Matsui faces 11 challengers in a March 8 special election to succeed her late husband, Rep. Robert Matsui, D-Sacramento, who died Jan. 1. Her campaign said last week...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- A divided federal appeals court Tuesday upheld a judge's dismissal of a Second Amendment challenge to a Washington, D.C. handgun ban. The challenge was brought by a group of District of Columbia residents who wanted to possess pistols, or possess other weapons they keep disassembled or with trigger-locks. The appeals panel said, "Most of the plaintiffs allege they live in high-crime neighborhoods and would like to possess weapons loaded in their homes for protection ... " The Second Amendment says, "A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A Senate committee Wednesday rejected Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reappointment of a state Board of Education member who became embroiled in the debate over bilingual education. The Senate Rules Committee deadlocked 2-2 over Schwarzenegger's nomination of Silicon Valley entrepreneur Reed Hastings for another term on the board. He needed at least three votes from the five-member committee. Hastings, a Democratic Party campaign donor, was originally appointed to the board by Gov. Gray Davis in 2000. He was reappointed by Schwarzenegger, a Republican, last year. But Hastings ran into opposition from Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Norwalk, and bilingual education groups...

WASHINGTON -- No buttons, signs or unusual dress will distinguish the protesters from the thousands who will line the inaugural parade route next month, but at a set time, they say they will demonstrate against President Bush -- by turning their backs on the chief executive. Coupled with the widely expected pomp and pageantry of a presidential inauguration are demonstrations by protesters angered by Bush's policies, in particular the war in Iraq. Getting ready for Jan. 20, 2005, various groups are using Web sites, e-mails, fliers and word of mouth to urge thousands of demonstrators to gather in the nation's...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A constitutional amendment that would eliminate the two-thirds vote hurdle for school parcel taxes fell victim to a two-thirds vote requirement of its own Tuesday in the state Assembly. The measure by Assemblyman Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, would allow local voters to approve the taxes by 55 percent votes. It failed on a 42-35 roll call, 12 short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass the 80-seat house. Simitian and other supporters argued that the amendment, if approved by the Legislature and voters, would drop the vote required for school parcel taxes to the same 55 percent...

Iran rejects more nuclear curbs Iran has been accused of keeping some of its nuclear activities secret [Photo: Digitalglobe] Iran says it rejects any new curbs on its nuclear programme and says the world must recognize the country as a nuclear-capable nation. Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said Iran would not stop development of the so-called nuclear cycle. This comprises the procedures used to process and uranium necessary for both nuclear energy and nuclear weapons. Mr Kharrazi said a draft resolution to be considered by the UN nuclear agency on Monday needed to be changed. Yellowcake Britain, France and Germany...

WASHINGTON - Federal officials Thursday rejected new limits for political groups pouring millions into ads and voter drives in the presidential election, and Republicans predicted the decision would prompt a surge in big donations for their side. Several Democratic groups have already begun spending large donations on efforts critical of President Bush (news - web sites) or supportive of Democratic candidate John Kerry (news - web sites). Republicans had asked the Federal Election Commission (news - web sites) to stop the activities under the campaign law that broadly banned from federal elections the big checks known as "soft money." But...

Cash family rejects piles of cash By Hugh Davies, Entertainment Correspondent (Filed: 19/02/2004) The family of the late Johnny Cash is outraged at a plan to use his 1963 classic song, Ring of Fire, to promote a haemorrhoid ointment. Advertising copy writers in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, thought the lyrics, ". . . and it burns burns burns, that ring of fire, that ring of fire", were perfect for such an advert. Johnny Cash So did Merle Kilgore, the song's co-writer and the manager of Hank Williams jnr. He said he had often joked about the pile cream possibilities of his...

Kerry rejects smear and says: I'll fight back By Alec Russell in Washington (Filed: 14/02/2004) Senator John Kerry, the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, strongly denied allegations of improper conduct yesterday as he concentrated on trying to deliver a knock-out blow to his two remaining rivals in the race. Asked about claims on a Right-wing website concerning his private life he said: "I just deny it categorically. It's rumour. It's untrue. Period." Gen Wesley Clark has given his full support to Kerry Earlier, Mr Kerry, a Vietnam war veteran, had said that he was "not worried" about the allegation...

<p>BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The U.S.-backed plan for handing over power to Iraqis is unacceptable as it stands, according to a top Shiite Muslim leader who met with President Bush this week.</p> <p>However, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim said Friday that the Americans, as well as others, are slowly coming around to the need for elections to chose a new legislature rather than have the members named by 18 regional caucuses.</p>

<p>COLUMBUS, OHIO – Lawmakers gave final approval Wednesday to a measure banning gay marriage and prohibiting state employees from getting benefits for domestic partners.</p> <p>The bill is considered among the most far-reaching in the nation because of the benefits ban, which applies to unmarried heterosexual and homosexual couples.</p>

Syria rejects Israel talks offer Assad has said he is ready to resume negotiations with Israel Syria has dismissed an Israeli proposal to invite President Bashar al-Assad to Jerusalem for peace talks. The offer came from Israeli President Moshe Katsav, who said he was inviting Mr Assad for serious negotiations. It was made after Mr Assad said in newspaper interviews that he was ready to resume talks with Israel. But Syrian Expatriates Minister Buthaina Shaaban said the Israeli proposal was not a serious answer to Mr Assad's peace overtures. "We need a serious response... A serious response is to say...

Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger said Friday it shouldn't matter to voters if they know who all his campaign donors are before the Oct. 7 recall election.``You know something, when the voters vote for me they're voting for me because they trust me. Always when you vote for somebody you have to have trust,'' Schwarzenegger said in an interview. He was responding to criticism earlier this week that he had exploited a campaign-finance loophole by loaning $4.5 million to his campaigns with the expectation that donors would repay him later.``I will always let anyone know whatever checks come in,'' said Schwarzenegger, who...

Britain rejects Bush's charges against charity By Sean O'Neill (Filed: 25/09/2003) Britain yesterday rejected claims by America that a London-based charity was a front group for the terrorist group Hamas. The Charity Commission said the US authorities were unable to substantiate claims that Interpal, which raises £4 million a year, channelled money to Hamas for terrorist and political activities. Investigators lifted a month-long freeze on Interpal's bank accounts and allowed it to continue operating normally. Last month President George W Bush ordered the US Treasury to "block and freeze" all Interpal's assets and declared that the charity was a "specially...

popular morning radio program that promotes the concept of free speech is under fire for allegedly rejecting a pro-God commercial. Dan Schuller of Dubuque, Iowa, sought to purchase 10-second spots to be heard on "Mancow's Morning Madhouse," a Chicago-based program aired across the nation on what's billed as the "Free Speech Radio Network." The 36-year-old engineer, who is Christian, corresponded with the station – WKQX/Q101-FM – in a series of e-mails and says he was told he could not purchase the airtime on the morning show due the controversial nature of the ad. "Most people are beginning to realize that...

Jordan's new parliament has rejected two proposals giving women more rights because, some deputies say, they contradict Islamic teachings. While parliament was dormant in 2001, the government amended the two bills to allow women to file for divorce and to give courts the leeway to impose harsh punishment on what has become known as honor killings—men who kill women relatives who are perceived to have shamed family honor. Sunday, in just its third session since the June 17 parliamentary elections, the 110-seat Chamber of Deputies rejected the amendments to the Civil Status Law and the Penal Code by acclamation. The...

WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- The recent comments by Democrat Congressman Charles Rangel of New York that the actions against Uday and Qusay Hussein were illegal were dismissed Wednesday by the White House. On a national television talk show Tuesday, Rangel told host Sean Hannity, "We have a law on the books that the United States should not be assassinating anybody." Rangel was referring to an Executive Order signed by President Ford that prohibits assassination of foreign leaders. When asked by Talon News to comment on Rangel's implication that U.S. troops committed illegal acts, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, "I...

<p>NEW ORLEANS — A federal appeals court rejected an attempt by survivors to collect damages from the government for the deadly 1993 confrontation in Waco, Texas, between government agents and members of the Branch Davidian cult.</p> <p>Without dissent, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (search) late Monday turned aside contentions that a lower-court judge who ruled against the survivors was biased.</p>

<p>The state's budget standoff showed little sign of lifting Sunday as the Assembly rejected a Republican plan to balance the budget without new taxes.</p> <p>The 3 1/2-hour Sunday session was extraordinary, but the rhetoric on both sides was much the same as in recent months leading up to the impasse.</p>

Middle East - AP Iraq Rejects Demand for Saddam's Exile By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq (news - web sites)'s leadership on Tuesday rejected the U.S. ultimatum that Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) and his sons leave Iraq or face war, and the United Nations (news - web sites) pulled its weapons inspection staff out of the country as battle appeared inevitable. A defiant Saddam appeared Tuesday night on Iraqi television in military uniform, in what appeared to signal his role as defender of the nation. Saddam last appeared in a military uniform after...

PM rejects 'absurd' plan to give arms team more time By Andrew Grice Political Editor 26 February 2003 Tony Blair rejected France's plan for the UN inspectors to be given more time, telling MPs yesterday that it was "absurd" to think that they could find weapons without Baghdad's full co-operation. However, Joschka Fischer, the German Foreign Minister, backed the French proposal when he held talks with Mr Blair. Afterwards, Mr Fischer said: "We should do everything to avoid military action. We think all other measures are not exhausted." Mr Blair warned France, Germany and Russia that their moves to avoid...

MOSCOW (AP) — A Moscow court on Thursday rejected three lawsuits by six plaintiffs against the city government for damages suffered by hostages in the terrorist seizure of a Moscow theater last year. The court did not rule on the remaining 18 lawsuits because the plaintiffs had not appeared during the hearings. ``I have no words, only emotions,'' said Alexander Karpov, the father of one of the victims. His case was not among those rejected, but he said he now held out little hope for winning a judgment. Sixty-one victims of the Oct. 23-26 theater siege filed suit for nearly...

Last night, I had the pleasure of attending a midnight showing of The Two Towers. What follows is my attempt at a spoiler-free review. Of three books of the trilogy, "The Two Towers" was always my favorite - I looked forward to the movie in fevered anticipation. I decided to throw caution to the wind and go to the midnight showing; I knew I would be hurting at work today (quick nurse, my caffine IV is low!) I was very surprised to get to the theater in our small city and find it utterly packed, my friend and I were...

Sat Sep 28, 9:53 PM ET By SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraq defiantly rejected a U.S.-British plan Saturday for the United Nations ( news - web sites) to force President Saddam Hussein ( news - web sites) to disarm and open his palaces for weapons searches, warning the Baghdad would stage a fierce defense if the allies attacked. AP Photo (AP Video) (AP Video) Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz also said the United States would suffer losses "that have not been sustained for decades" if it sought to topple the Iraqi leader. Ignoring the...

Jordan rejects US invasion plan By Toby Harnden in Washington (Filed: 11/07/2002) Jordan yesterday rejected American suggestions that it could be used as a base for an invasion of Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein. Mohammad Affash Adwan, the information minister, said: "We will not allow our land and our skies to be used as a launching pad for any foreign troops to mount an attack on Iraq. "Jordan rejects the principle of interfering in the internal affairs of any brotherly Arab country under any justification. We are against any strike against Iraq and we believe that the Iraqi problem can...

Court Upholds Lockerbie ConvictionLas Vegas Sun CAMP ZEIST, Netherlands- A Scottish appeals court on Thursday upheld the murder conviction of a former Libyan intelligence agent for bombing Pan Am Flight 103, a ruling that increases pressure on Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to admit responsibility and compensate the victims' families. The court's rejection of the appeal by Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi brought to a close a 13-year police and judicial saga, but left unanswered the question of who ordered the bombing that killed 259 people on the plane and 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie, Scotland. Most of those killed...