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Australia considers test for would-be citizens By Nick Squires in Sydney (Filed: 18/09/2006) Australian immigrants will have to show they are "fair dinkum" — or genuine — by taking a tough citizenship test and waiting longer before applying for a passport, the government said yesterday. The proposal has divided Australians with some welcoming it as a way of blocking potential Islamic extremists and others dismissing it as an act of embarrassing jingoism. The prime minister, John Howard, wants a test to assess applicants' knowledge of Australian history, values and customs. "Most people who come to this country are fair dinkum...

WASHINGTON, July 16, 2006 – U.S. and Iraqi soldiers killed two terrorists and captured seven others during a joint operation conducted in a rural area northwest of Baghdad late last week, officials in Iraq reported. The Iraqi soldiers and Multinational Corps Iraq soldiers from 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, participated in the July 13 firefight. Four local citizens gave information that led to the terrorists' capture. The Iraqis told the soldiers about some men carrying an RPK machine gun and a mortar tube in the neighborhood and provided possible locations. The soldiers observed...

HEBRON, West Bank - Israeli forces disguised as vegetable vendors captured a senior Hamas operative who had been on the run for eight years, while others caught a 14-year-old boy whom militants tried to push into becoming a suicide bomber, the army said Wednesday. The arrest sweep came as a Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said the official investigation into Yasser Arafat's death failed to determine what killed the longtime Palestinian leader. Arafat died in a French hospital Nov. 11 after his health rapidly declined, and the cause of death has remained a mystery. His wife, Suha, refused an autopsy....

Knock, Knock, Knockin’ Down “Kevin’s” Door City Paper Digi-Cam 2237 Linden Ave. The real estate listing spoke of great promise for the house at 2237 Linden Ave., a three-story attached single-family home with a garage and a nice-sized yard: “Vision, enthusiasm & dreams are great tools when looking at this property,” the Jan. 4 listing gamely read. “Reservoir Hill is the next Mecca for visionaries & trendsetters. Invest now & gain instant equity on settlement day.” The asking price: $135,000. Then the house fell down. And now, it seems, no one was responsible for it—especially Michael Mfume, the ex-con son...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Would-be assassin 'a foreigner' (Filed: 27/12/2003) A suicide bomber who attempted to assassinate President Pervaiz Musharraf of Pakistan by driving a pick-up truck packed with explosives into his motorcade has been identified by police. Authorities in Islamabad did not name the man held but said he was one of three terrorists involved in the Christmas Day attack in Rawalpindi, when two vehicles rammed police cars in the presidential convoy killing 12 people and wounding dozens, but leaving Gen Musharraf unscathed. The attack was the second bombing the Pakistani leader had escaped by seconds in under a fortnight. Sheikh Rashid Ahmed,...

LITTLE ROCK (Reuters) - Would-be bank robber Julius Kearney just couldn't get any respect, police said on Wednesday. They said that when he tried to rob a bank in the central Arkansas town of Pine Bluff on Monday, one teller started laughing and told him the bank was fresh out of cash, and another teller made fun of him. Both tellers also doubted that he had a gun in his pocket as he claimed. Police were told that Kearney, 23, entered a bank and told a teller to stuff a bag full of money. His other hand was thrust in...