Free Republic

Two men were known to have been wounded and at least 21 suspected illegal immigrants were taken into custody today after a wild shoutout in a southwest Houston neighborhood. Houston police and federal immigration agents were still combing the neighborhood – in and near the Larkwood subdivision – searching for others who fled after the gunfire erupted in the 9000 block of Sandpiper about 9 a.m. The shooting occurred in and near a house that appears to have been used as a "drop house," where smugglers are believed to have held illegal immigrants until relatives could pay their smuggling fees....

third of 12-year-old boys in the Gaza strip want to become martyrs for the Palestinian cause. Are they victims of Israeli oppression or their own side's propaganda? Ed O'Loughlin reports. A Friday afternoon in Gaza City and a Palestinian militant group is staging a passing-out parade for its newest graduates. On a dirt soccer pitch, 24 masked recruits of the Popular Resistance Committee go through a program of song, march and very ragged foot drill. Some clutch real rifles, others wooden cut-outs. The crowd of onlookers is appreciative, but smaller than it might have been. There are wanted men...

AUSTIN -- Nearly half of Texas teachers are considering leaving the profession, according to a study released Friday. The 45 percent represents a record high in the survey, which has been conducted every two years since 1980. The top reasons given for considering leaving the profession were working conditions (41 percent) and compensation (25 percent). The study, "Texas Teachers, Moonlighting, and Morale," also found that 35 percent of teachers are moonlighting an average of 10 hours a week in order to make ends meet, up from 26 percent who reported working a second job two years ago. The extra work...

9/11 fallout has Pakistanis seeking haven in Canada Wednesday, January 08, 2003 BY BRIAN DONOHUE Star-Ledger Staff [Newark, NJ] -- A growing number of Pakistanis who had been living in the United States are crossing the border and seeking asylum in Canada out of fear they will be jailed or deported if they register with a new U.S. Justice Department tracking program, according to Canadian officials. Over the past week, the number of asylum seekers entering Quebec at the border with Champlain, N.Y., has risen from its usual rate of six per day to more than 40, according to Jean...