Free Republic

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - San Jose police insisted that a search of the home of Anna Ayala's in-laws was not connected to the criminal case against Ayala and her claim of finding a finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili. The Tuesday night search was part of a separate probe that began seven weeks before the March 22 incident when Ayala says she bit into the finger, according to Officer Enrique Garcia. He refused to divulge any other details of the earlier investigation. But a relative said a detective asked a family friend during the search, "Do you know...

Minutes ago on the 11:00 news: Ana Ayala, the woman who says she found a finger in her Wendy's chili, has been arrested at her Las Vegas home. What is known is that she will be charged with Grand Theft. The San Jose Police have scheduled a press conference tomorrow morning.

CARACAS - The many bizarre aspects of the recent arrests of some 80 alleged Colombian mercenaries accused of plotting to kill President Hugo Chávez have sparked deep skepticism and worry among many Venezuelans and foreign diplomats. The concern is that the leftist Chávez will use the case as an excuse to crack down on his nonviolent opponents or block an ongoing attempt to force a recall referendum on his rule. ''I have no doubt at all that this is an invention of the government,'' said former Foreign Minister Simón Alberto Consalvi, part of the opposition that accuses Chávez of leading...