Free Republic

Cowardly matador arrested for fleeing ring A Mexican matador was arrested for breaching his contract after losing his nerve and running from the bullring. Terrified Christian Hernandez dropped his red cape and ran from the charging bull during an event at the Plaza Mexico in Mexico City on Sunday. The 22-year-old vaulted over the protective wall at the side of the ring as the crowd hooted and whistled in derision. He was briefly persuaded back into the bullring by organisers but gave up before coming face to face with half-ton beast and skulked from the ring a second time. He...

Protests were planned across Pakistan Friday as Muslim anger over the alleged desecration of the Koran by the U.S. military spread outwards from Afghanistan, where at least seven people have been killed in violent clashes with security forces. The Pentagon said Thursday there is no evidence to support an allegation that a copy of the Islamic text had been flushed down a toilet "in an attempt to rattle suspects" held at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba. The brief item, citing an unnamed source, was published in Newsweek magazine. General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,...

TEHRAN, March 6, 2003. /from RIA Novosti correspondent Nikolai Terekhov/. - Iraq has dropped bombs hitting 2,500 oil fields that cover a vast area. According to the IRNA agency, the bombing near Sharjeh resulted in the explosion of an oil refinery near Kirkuk. Some oil-bearing wells were mined with antitank mines. The Iraqi Army units are ditching around near Baghdad and Kirkuk round the clock to resist the US Army.