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PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) - The United States increased its funding to fight terrorism in the Americas Thursday as regional security chiefs called for improved intelligence sharing and tougher laws against terror financing. U.S. Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson urged countries to increase their financial contributions to the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism, an arm of the 34-member Organization of American States that was holding its fifth annual conference in Trinidad's capital of Port-of Spain. "We know that terrorists in our hemisphere are increasingly engaged in narcotics and weapons smuggling, and money laundering, as a means to fund their criminal and often...

San Diegans have the dubious distinction of living in a state whose own serious financial problems will likely make the city's even worse. Last year, we cited most of the same problems California is facing again in this new year. In the spirit of a New Year's holiday, maybe it's time we resolve to finally do something about them. On the state level, our problems are enormous, but not insurmountable. They range from the budget deficit, now estimated to be about $8.1 billion, to the need to invest in the state's future – in schools, roads and mass transit, in...

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!

NEW YORK - Thousands of abortion-rights activists marched across the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday, the latest in a growing procession of protests leading up to the Republican National Convention. Protesters were expected to gather later in the day in Central Park and at the World Trade Center site, where anti-Bush demonstrators planned to ring 2,749 bells — one for each victim of the Sept. 11 attacks there. The Brooklyn Bridge march, organized by the abortion rights group Planned Parenthood (news - web sites), attracted thousands of people on a hot, humid day. They crossed the bridge in a line 10...

Iranians flood across Iraq border unchecked by military By Neil Barnett in Shalamcheh (Filed: 01/08/2004) Iraqi border officials have admitted that buses full of Iranians routinely enter the country without passports or other official identification, despite Baghdad's attempts to clamp down on terrorist infiltration. Col Jassem al-Qabi, the regional border guard commander in a remote stretch of southern Iraq, said that scores of Iranians enter every day. Only three of 15 forts at the Iran/Iraq border are operational 'Sometimes a bus-load of Iranian pilgrims will come to the border, with perhaps 45 people on board, and only one will have...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The powerful U.S. gun lobby seems poised for victory in a high profile battle to end a ban on some assault weapons and experts say it has also been piling up numerous quiet victories at the state level. A federal ban on certain military-style semi-automatic weapons enacted in 1994 is due to expire on Sept. 13. The Republican congressional leadership, backed by the National Rifle Association and other gun groups, seems determined to allow the law to lapse. Gun control groups say only vigorous intervention by President Bush (news - web sites) could change congressional minds. They...

Lights go out across France in privatisation dispute Jon Henley in Paris Wednesday June 16, 2004 The Guardian (UK) Six French cities were plunged into darkness and several leading government figures had their power supply cut yesterday when the trade union CGT led a national day of action against plans to partly privatise the state electricity utility, EDF. Both Nicolas Sarkozy, the finance minister and the communist-linked CGT, supported by three other unions, said they would not back down as parliament debated the privatisation bill and more than 6,000 power workers took to the streets in Paris alone. Bernard Thibault,...

Major power outages are reported in major U.S. and Canadian cities, including New York City, New Jersey, Toronto and Detroit.

West Nile Virus set for fresh rampage across US 16:18 08 August 03 NewScientist.com news service Cases of West Nile Virus in the US have tripled in a week, prompting officials to warn that the 2003 outbreak may well surpass the previous year's record levels. At least 164 people in 16 different states are infected with the deadly virus, compared with 59 a week ago. Seven people have died so far in 2003 from WNV. The virus's spread also appears more extensive this year - by 7 August 2002, there had been 112 human cases in only four states, Julie...

Cartoon by: Carmelo Torres The GOP's November 5 election victory was a referendum of sorts against "gay marriage," homosexual adoption, and attacking the Boy Scouts - as candidates who strongly defended traditional family values on these issues won key races across the nation. Candidates in competitive races who embraced the most extreme homosexual planks - such as Georgia Sen. Max Cleland's (D) support of the "gay" lobby over the Boy Scouts of America, and Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Shannon O'Brien's (D) flip-flopping embrace of "gay marriage" - lost their elections after being criticized for abandoning mainstream values. Although liberal and self-described...