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RAMALLAH, West Bank, June 25 (AFP) - With his political survival hanging in the balance, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Tuesday rejected US President George W. Bush's call for his ouster, saying only his people can decide his fate. "It will be decided by my people and no one else," Arafat told reporters who asked him about the conditions Bush harshly laid down on Monday as a necessary step for US support for a Palestinian state. Speaking at a news conference with visiting French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, Arafat denied that the eagerly-awaited speech Bush gave was a...

<p>1. Trying to kill Sharon. In '88 after bingeing on vodka, Ozzy tried to choke his wife, saying, 'We decided you've got to go'. She hit the panic button, cops came and this Wizard of Oz was arrested. He spent three months in rehab.</p>

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Jun 25, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- The Muslim world risks being "even more marginalized than we are at present" if it fails to close social and economic gaps with developed nations, Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir said Tuesday. El-Bashir also called for reform of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in remarks to foreign ministers and senior officials from the 57 Muslim nations meeting in the Sudanese capital. He said the OIC, the world's only pan-Islamic body, needed to be overhauled so it could "lead joint Islamic endeavors toward the horizons we all aspire for." He...

TAIPEI, Taiwan - The initial probe of a China Airlines crash is ruling out an explosion and pilot error as causing the Boeing 747-200 to break up over the Taiwan Strait shortly after takeoff last month, the chief investigator said Tuesday. Investigators are considering the possibility that metal fatigue, structural failure or engine problems brought down the Taipei-Hong Kong flight, killing 225 passengers and crew, said Kay Yong, the chief investigator at Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council. Flight CI611 suddenly split into four pieces about 20 minutes after takeoff on May 25. The pilots indicated no problems before the plane disappeared...

(Editor's Note: The following editorial originally appeared in the June 6 edition of the Midwestburg Courier-Gazette.) The recent tragic death from malnutrition of seven-year-old Johnny Marfan of Bensonville draws our attention to the growing trend toward so-called "homefeeding." While the majority of the local children still receive their nutrition from state cafeterias or approved, registered private cafeterias, a growing minority of parents - hundreds by some estimates - are engaged in homefeeding, a practice in which children receive at least breakfast and dinner in their own homes as provided by their parents. In accordance with law, the Marfans informed the...

Clinton sex scandal lawyer Robert Bennett has been recruited to sit on a review board set up to monitor how Catholic bishops respond to sexual abuse allegations against priests. Just three years ago, Bennett represented ex-President Clinton in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case, which also came to include charges of sexual assault and even rape against his client. On June 14 the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops named former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating to help implement a policy of mandatory reporting of sexual abuse and removal from the ministry of priests who have sexually abused minors, reported USA...

We have a great opportunity here to change some minds and get the word out about our corrupt leadership in Nashville. This is especially critical since our legislature is determining whether or not Tennessee will slide down the trash chute of socialism with the forced raising of an unconstitutional income tax. In East Tennessee we have two bastions of liberalism (UT-K and UT-C) surrounded by the most conservative part of the state. Definitely choice targets for counterprotests and FReeping. Here at UT-Knoxville, we are constantly bombarded by liberal Progressive Student Alliance nonsense, and it is only made worse by the...

GOP Makes Gains With Jewish Voters Democrats Worry Party Critics of Israel Are Costing Support Leading congressional Democrats are increasingly concerned that party critics of Israel are helping drive Jewish voters, donors and opinion leaders toward the Republican Party, according to Democratic strategists and leaders. While support of Israel is strong among most Democrats and their leaders, a small but significant faction is openly questioning whether the Bush administration has tilted too far in favor of Israel. They include some of the most senior members of the House, as well as a sizable number of the Congressional Black Caucus. For...

Indianapolis police reported a tornado near washington square in east indianapolis moving northeast at 20 mph. WARNINGS HERE

JONATHAN D. SALANT, Associated Press WriterTuesday, June 25, 2002 ©2002 Associated Press URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/06/25/financial1210EDT0115.DTL (06-25) 09:10 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Democrats on Tuesday urged President Bush to include $205 million for Amtrak in a new spending bill as the administration met with labor unions to discuss ways to keep the passenger rail system running. "If we are going to help Amtrak, they must have resources and they must have them as quickly as possible," said Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta was meeting with representatives of transportation unions to discuss the administration's efforts to...

Hair in Westerfield home similar to Danielle'sKIMBERLY EPLER Staff WriterSAN DIEGO ---- A police criminalist testified Monday that tiny pieces of evidence ---- hairs and carpet fibers ---- found in David Westerfield's house and motor home could link the Sabre Springs man to Danielle van Dam, the 7-year-old neighbor he is accused of kidnapping and murdering. Tanya DuLaney, a trace evidence analyst with the San Diego Police Department, said blonde hairs, dog hairs and tan carpet fibers found on Westerfield's property were similar to Danielle's hair, the short brown-gray fur of the van Dam family dog and Danielle's bedroom carpet....

<p>A South African bishop has defended his writings at a pornographic homosexual Internet chat room in which he expressed "hope" the pope would die, while a Dallas priest apologized to his congregation Sunday for stating his interest in Hispanic men at the same site.</p>

“From the fifth to the tenth century Europe lay sunk in a night of barbarism which grew darker and darker. It was a barbarism far more awful and horrible than that of the primitive savage, for it was the decomposing body of what had been a great civilization.” “The Christian-Germanic virtues did not result in progress, but in steady and growing barbarization. It is not true that a New World began at once to sprout on the ruins of the old. On the contrary, for close on five hundred years Europe sank lower and lower; things went steadily and continuously...

Only Custer himself could have given a complete report of Custer's last stand, only those who fought with him could have described it. But all died on the field of battle." --The Custer Story: the Life and Intimate Letters of General George A. Custer and His Wife, Elizabeth The Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1876 In late 1875, Sioux and Cheyenne Indians defiantly left their reservations, outraged over the continued intrusions of whites into their sacred lands in the Black Hills. They gathered in Montana with the great warrior Sitting Bull to fight for their lands. Two victories that spring...

Excerpt: FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III is coming under fire from some conservatives for agreeing to deliver a keynote address this week to the American Muslim Council, a group whose founder has declared support for the Hamas and Hezbollah militant groups. The council, which is holding a four-day convention in Alexandria that begins Thursday, also has urged members to contribute to two charities, the Holy Land Foundation and the Global Relief Foundation, whose assets have been frozen by the Bush administration for alleged ties to terrorists. To read the rest of the article, visit the source URL.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John McCain vowed Monday to block confirmation of all Bush administration nominations until a replacement is installed for a lame duck Federal Election Commission member who helped approve controversial campaign fund-raising rules. In a letter to Senate leaders, the Arizona Republican pledged to object to action on ``any nominee'' unless Ellen Weintraub is confirmed by early August or President Bush agrees to bypass the Senate and make the appointment on his own. Weintraub is in line to replace Karl Sandstrom as one of three Democratic members on the six-person FEC. While the administration is expected to...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. DETROIT (AP) — General Motors Corp. is counting on a reincarnation of the car nicknamed ``the Goat'' to give its Pontiac division the sales kick it needs. The automaker released the first sketch Thursday of what will be the 2004 Pontiac GTO, a 21st century version of the popular muscle car that went out of production in 1974. Unlike the old ``Goat,'' the new kid is based on the Monaro, built by GM's Australian subsidiary Holden. But it will be pumped up with an LS1 aluminum engine and beyond 300 horsepower...

Religious volunteers evacuate a body from the site of a bus bombing in Jerusalem June 18. A Palestinian detonated a nail-packed bomb aboard the bus carrying students and workers, killing at least 20 and injuring 55. "How beautiful it is to make my bomb shrapnel kill the enemy. How beautiful it is to kill and to be killed — not to love death, but to struggle for life, to kill and be killed for the lives of the coming generation." TWENTY-TWO-YEAR- OLD Mohammed al-Ghoul, a master's student in Islamic studies, wrote those lines. Then he went out and blew...

The Right’s Abdication Of Responsibility By William A. Mayer, Editor & Publisher June 25, 2002 In the battle for the hearts and minds of the American voter the shadow of “right wing” talk radio looms large. I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings but…the power behind that image is largely illusory – a bit of intricately crafted fluff - more shadow than substance. Yes the lucrative conservative talk show format, largely pioneered by Rush Limbaugh, is a guaranteed moneymaker and even liberal program directors [check out what Jack Swanson, program director, at San Francisco radio station, KSFO, has...

Palestinian officials have rejected calls by US President George W Bush for a new Palestinian leadership "not compromised by terror". Mr Bush said in a long-awaited speech on Middle East policy that "reform must be more than cosmetic changes or a veiled attempt to preserve the status quo" if the Palestinians are to fulfil their aspirations for a state alongside Israel. He called on Palestinians to create an accountable, democratic government - something rarely found in the Arab Middle East. Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon released a statement saying that "when the Palestinian Authority undergoes genuine reforms and a new...