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BEIJING, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese citizens must register their identities when they buy potentially deadly knives, Xinhua quoted the Ministry of Public Security on Tuesday as saying. The new regulations come as China steps up security ahead of the Beijing Olympics. The targeted daggers include those with blood grooves, lock-knives, and knives with blades measuring over 22 centimeters, the ministry said in a circular posted on its website, www.mps.gov.cn. Police departments at all levels should check knife manufacturers for illegal production of deadly weapons, it said. Regulations concerning knife tools used by China's ethnic groups are to be set...

Martina Navratilova, the former world number one tennis star, said yesterday that she had regained Czech nationality more than 30 years after fleeing its communist rule to live in the US. The 51-year-old, who won the Wimbledon singles title a record nine times, said that she was maintaining dual nationality and keeping her US passport. But her announcement, at a Tokyo press conference, raised questions over whether she planned to leave America, after a series of controversial attacks on President Bush and the Republican party. Born in Prague, Navratilova defected to the United States in 1975 aged 18, angering the...

House Republicans are threatening to launch a discharge petition on legislation that would ensure the future prosperity of conservative radio talk-show hosts but is expected to face opposition from Democratic leaders. On Monday evening, Republicans filed a rule with the House Rules Committee laying the groundwork for a petition that would force action on protecting radio from government regulation later this fall. The move comes at a time when Democrats have launched a coordinated attack on conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, accusing him of disparaging American troops critical of the Iraq war as “phony soldiers.” Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin...

Jihadi Idol Jihadi Kramer The Sharia

ZIMBABWE’S leading cleric has called on Britain to invade the country and topple President Robert Mugabe. Pius Ncube, the Archbishop of Bulawayo, warned that millions were facing death from famine, unable to survive amid inflation believed to have soared to 15,000%. Mugabe, 83, had proved intransigent despite the “massive risk to life”, said Ncube, the head of Zimbabwe’s 1m Catholics. “I think it is justified for Britain to raid Zimbabwe and remove Mugabe,” he said. “We should do it ourselves but there’s too much fear. I’m ready to lead the people, guns blazing, but the people are not ready.” Some...

WASHINGTON -- Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John McCain are set to introduce a revised version of their sweeping plan to overhaul the nation's immigration laws, in a bill that's likely to restart a tense debate in Congress. The measure, which is being drafted in consultation with the White House, will largely mirror the immigration bill that stalled last year, according to lawmakers and aides involved in the process. That measure was blocked primarily because House Republican leaders were adamantly opposed to provisions that would have allowed undocumented immigrants to become US citizens.

I'm with a group of surprised camels, a 300lb chicken shwarma and a bemused comedy writer in a wintry, wet Toronto square. We're here for the launch of CBC's new sitcom Little Mosque on the Prairie, which depicts a Muslim community trying to assimilate in a small prairie town. It has little in common with the sugary, 1970s American pioneer family drama Little House On The Prairie, jokingly appropriated in the show's title. By contrast, Little Mosque addresses head-on post- 9/11 fears and prejudices. It's generating lots of publicity in Canada, with or without the camels, largely for breaking new...

BRITAIN is ready to surrender its veto over European Union decisions on police and judicial matters in a dramatic policy change. Ministers will set out conditions tomorrow for the transfer of control to the EU over the creation of new crimes that will apply in Britain as well as standardised court procedures, The Times understands. The move, to be proposed at a meeting of EU justice ministers in Tampere, Finland, will be subject to a series of conditions but has already provoked an outcry from the Conservatives, not least because the ending of the national veto revives a proposal in...

The Harris County Hospital District's unreimbursed costs of caring for illegal immigrants approached $100 million last year, a 77 percent increase in three years."The costs are increasing because the population of undocumented immigrants is increasing and the cost of health care is rising," said hospital district spokesman Bryan McLeod. The unreimbursed costs rose from $55 million in 2002 to $97 million in 2005, the hospital district said in a report released Friday. Last year's figure represented 13 percent of the district's $760 million operating budget. The district treats about 300,000 patients annually, but lacks enough funds and facilities to care...

Columbus - Citing "credible research" showing that children raised by Republican parents are more likely to be intolerant, State Sen. Bob Hagan sent out a spoof that seeks co-sponsors for a bill to ban registered Republicans from adopting children or serving as foster parents. It follows a GOP-drafted bill - that's not a spoof - to ban gays and lesbians from adopting or becoming foster parents. In a memo to his Senate colleagues, the Youngstown Democrat notes that Republican-raised children tend to be "significantly wealthier than their Democrat-raised counterparts," but "at risk for developing emotional problems, social stigmas, inflated egos,...

The Flames of Hate in Alabama By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist | February 15, 2006 SUPPOSE THAT in 2005 unknown hoodlums had firebombed 10 gay bookstores and bars in San Francisco, reducing several of them to smoking rubble. It takes no effort to imagine the alarm that would have spread through the Bay Area's gay community or the manhunt that would have been launched to find the attackers. The blasts would have been described everywhere as ''hate crimes," editorial pages would have thundered with condemnation, and public officials would have vowed to crack down on crimes against gays with unprecedented...

The Left Tries to Muzzle Free SpeechBy Roger Aronoff | February 10, 2006 George Clooney has talked about returning to the days when everyone had the same "fact level." By that, he means he wants to return to the "good old days," as he sees them, when "The News" was a neat package presented from on high by Walter Cronkite, who fed us the liberal line and disguised it as the only version of the news worth hearing and objective truth..... Realizing they are losing influence and are on the defensive, liberals are moving to re-establish the Fairness Doctrine, a...

February 3, 2006 -- REPUBLICAN conservatives are really warming up to Sen. John McCain as they look ahead to 2008 — and one reason is they are starting to see him as the best person to beat Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Conservatives loved the poll that showed McCain would trounce Clinton by 52 to 36 percent in a White House. It came along just as they were reminding themselves that McCain really is a true-blue conservative. ...... And yet, it's fascinating how McCain appeals to Democrats, even pro-choice women, despite his solid right-to-life voting record and the fact that he'd...

While surfing I found ThePeoplesCube.com. It is satire poking fun at the socialist/communist/marxist/democrats. I came across a thread I found particularly funny called You might be guilty of a thoughtcrime if... It is a take off of Jeff Foxworthy's you might be a redneck. Here are a few examples: ... if you think that Western society has contributed anything positive to civilization. ... if you claim you saw and loved "Farenheight 911," but secretly went to see "The Aviator" instead ... if you think that Hollywood celebrities should stay out of politics and just stick to "playing make-believe" on the...

China newspaper pleads for higher fuel prices2 hours, 24 minutes ago As most of the world struggles to cope with the impact of crude prices soaring over $60 a barrel, an influential Chinese paper on Thursday made an unusual call for higher fuel prices to protect the national economy. Central bankers worldwide have been fretting that expensive oil could foster inflation and dent consumer demand. But Chinese citizens, protected from spiralling global prices by Beijing's policy of capping prices for diesel and gasoline, have been burning fuel until pumps ran dry in some areas, leading to rationing and long queues...

Lutherans Nearing Key Vote on Gays' Role By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion WriterThu Aug 11, 6:25 PM ET With gays pleading for acceptance, delegates to a national meeting of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America debated Thursday whether to approve ordination for partnered gays and to give pastors leeway in ministering to same-sex couples. Conservatives warned a change would irreparably damage the church.The major proposals on the floor were meant as a compromise, aiming to uphold Lutheran restrictions on gays and lesbians who are not celibate, while allowing congregations and bishops to make exceptions in some cases without risking...

August 4, 2005 Discovery of Stored Fetuses and Stillborns Roils France By JOHN TAGLIABUE PARIS, Aug. 3 - The French health authorities have found the remains of 351 stillborn infants and fetuses that were stored illegally in the morgue of a prominent children's hospital, some for more than two decades, according to health officials. The mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, described the discovery as being "as surreal as it is illegal." The government has ordered an investigation into the discovery at St. Vincent de Paul Hospital, said the minister of health, Xavier Bertrand, who described himself as "enormously shocked" by...

Parliament legalized gay marriage Thursday, defying conservatives and clergy who opposed making traditionally Roman Catholic Spain the third nation to allow same-sex unions. Gay activists cheered the vote and blew kisses to lawmakers. The measure passed the 350-seat Congress of Deputies by a vote of 187-147 with four abstentions. The bill also lets gay couples adopt children and inherit each others' property. The bill is now law. The Senate, where conservatives hold the largest number of seats, rejected the bill last week. But it is an advisory body and final say on legislation rests with the Congress of Deputies. After...

ASHINGTON, Feb. 22 - The United States Supreme Court announced today that it would hear arguments on Oregon's law authorizing doctors to help their terminally ill patients commit suicide, the only such state law in the country.The justices will hear arguments in the court term that begins this October. They will decide whether to overturn a ruling last May by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which upheld the law. The Bush administration has tried to overturn the law in the courts.Oregon is one of the few places in the world where people are allowed to...

The evidence comes from photographs — not yet published — taken last year by the European Space Agency's Mars Express probe currently orbiting the red planet. The scientists said the existence of water or ice would significantly increase the chance that microscopic life may also be found on Mars. Scientists have long theorized there was once water on Mars, and data from NASA (news - web sites)'s Mars Rovers has recently appeared to confirm it. But most scientists believed the water had evaporated into the atmosphere early in the planet's history. "The point is that the ice is very recent:...