Free Republic

HESPERIA • Authorities located missing Hesperia teen Jessie Bender early Wednesday morning safe in Apple Valley, and investigators said she may have run away to avoid an arranged marriage in Pakistan. The 13-year-old Cedar Middle School student and her siblings were removed from the Bender family home Wednesday, Cindy Bachman, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, said. “(A) family member was concealing her in Apple Valley because he was concerned that she would be taken to Pakistan and forced into an arranged marriage,” Bachman said. According to authorities, the threat was plausible. In earlier interviews, the girl’s...

The Archbishop of Canterbury says the adoption of certain aspects of Sharia law in the UK "seems unavoidable". Dr Rowan Williams told Radio 4's World at One that the UK has to "face up to the fact" that some of its citizens do not relate to the British legal system. Dr Williams argues that adopting parts of Islamic Sharia law would help maintain social cohesion. For example, Muslims could choose to have marital disputes or financial matters dealt with in a Sharia court. He says Muslims should not have to choose between "the stark alternatives of cultural loyalty or state...

Byrd's angry theatrics made for a performance reminiscent of Al Pacino in "Scent of a Woman." And Byrd did Pacino one better: He invited the audience in the room to join him in heckling the witnesses, creating a responsive Greek chorus. Emboldened, two dozen hecklers in the audience from the antiwar group Code Pink continued to shout at the witnesses and wave signs for the better part of an hour. Finally, after Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) challenged Pace on his view that homosexuality is immoral, the hearing collapsed as the hecklers shouted down the nation's top military officer.

Finding a 60-year-old treasure This is the incredible story of a collection of 178 family pictures, which were hidden in the walls of a house in Poland just before the Holocaust, only to be found some 60 years later and be returned to their rightful owners A month ago, on the evening of his mother's death, Pini Beeri received a phone call from a stranger. "I have something that will interest you," said the stranger, who identified himself as Zvi Lander. "Can we meet?" Beeri apologized that he could not, his mother was on her deathbed. Indeed, she died six...

A loner with a penchant for candelit vigils in his garden is being questioned over a series of letter bomb attacks that have left nine people injured. Miles Cooper, a 26-year-old school caretaker who does not drive, was arrested at his home near Cambridge early today on suspicion of sending seven letter bombs in the past month, several to the offices of companies with links to traffic regulation enforcement. Cooper, described by his uncle as "a lonely boy most of his life", had been under surveillance for some time at the terrace house in the village of Cherry Hinton, where...

Prime Minister John Howard has labeled a push to prevent Australian flags being taken into the Big Day Out music festival in Sydney as offensive, saying most Australians would be offended by the idea as well. "The proposition that the display of the Australian flag should ever be banned anywhere in Australia is offensive and it will be to millions of Australians," he told reporters. "The reason given at the time was quite unacceptable. They're running their own political agenda but because of public pressure, they're now backing down." One senior federal politician has demanded organisers of the Big Day...

For the second year in a row, Citgo Petroleum Corp., the U.S. subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company, is delivering discounted heating oil to low-income Americans with help from a Boston nonprofit formed by former Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II.

A senior Anglican bishop has accused many Muslims of being guilty of double standards in their view of the world. The Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali, told the Sunday Times some had a "dual psychology" in which they sought "victimhood and domination". The Muslim Council of Britain said the comments were "not very helpful". The bishop, whose father converted from Islam, also said situations such as teaching could require Muslim women not to wear full-face veils. Mr Nazir-Ali argued it would never be possible to satisfy all of the demands made by Muslims because "their complaint often boils down to...

Halifax — A high-profile lawyer who sued the U.S. government for the mother of a Canadian soldier killed by American friendly fire has admitted he embezzled money from his clients, CBC Radio reports. A disciplinary board with the Nova Scotia Barristers Society heard that Dick Murtha billed for work he didn't do, hid insurance settlements from recipients and took out high-interest loans for clients without their knowledge, according to CBC. That has added up to $200,000 now missing from his clients' accounts. Darrell Pink of the society says Mr. Murtha violated almost every trust account regulation for maintaining books appropriately....

Some Howard supporters say Mr Costello should resign Australian politics has been rocked by a leadership feud between Prime Minister John Howard and Treasurer Peter Costello. On Monday the two men publicly contradicted each other over an alleged pledge by Mr Howard to hand over power. The former allies faced each other at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, for the first time since the row erupted. Mr Howard and Mr Costello have dominated Australian politics, and the Liberal Party, for the past decade. The treasurer has made no secret of his desire to lead the country, but until now...

When I set out to write a book about how the first generation of women to grow up with feminism managed their marriages, I never dreamed I'd wind up the subject of a Web article called "Everybody Hates Linda." Everybody started hating Linda, apparently, when I published an article in the progressive magazine the American Prospect last December, saying that women who quit their jobs to stay home with their children were making a mistake. Worse, I said that the tasks of housekeeping and child rearing were not worthy of the full time and talents of intelligent and educated human...

The IDF probe investigating the deaths of seven Palestinian civilians, caused by an explosion on a beach in Gaza on Friday evening, concluded that chances were slim that the accident was caused by IDF shelling. According to the findings, expected to be formally released on Tuesday, shrapnel taken from two wounded Palestinians who were evacuated to Israeli hospitals showed that the explosives were not made in Israel, IDF officials said. Moreover, the investigation noted the absence of a large enough crater at the site of the explosion, as would be expected if an IDF shell had landed there. The third...

Well I've been putting off jumping into this issue, but might as well live up to my FReeper name and tick everybody off and be done with it. Herein are my only-slightly-tongue-in-cheek ideas for solving the immigration problem. Heatseeker's 12-Step Solution to the Illegal Immigration Crisis First, SECURE THE BORDER!!. Unless this is done, nothing else matters, both from a national security and a political point-of-view. The goal is not to eliminate illegal crossings - that's probably impossible - but to significantly reduce their numbers. To cut down on fake IDs, require everyone crossing the border to undergo biometric identification...

The Conservatives look to be on course for their best local election performance since they last won national power in 1992. On the projected share of the votes if the local polls were held nationwide, the Tories are on 40%, ahead of the Lib Dems' 27% and Labour's 26%. As well as net gains of more than 200 seats, the Tories have won control of councils like Crawley and Merton. But opponents say they have failed to breakthrough in northern cities. Ealing gain There have been Tory wins in areas such as Shrewsbury & Atcham, Bassetlaw and Mole Valley. The...

A WOMAN who was dragged from the street and raped at knifepoint by a foreign criminal freed from jail has called on Charles Clarke, the home secretary, to resign. Her attacker was allowed to go free by immigration officials who could have deported him after he finished serving a three-year jail term for robbery. The 40-year-old mother, who has been mentally scarred by the ordeal and has undergone intensive counselling, said her attacker "did not deserve to be alive". She said: "It has taken me a long time to get beyond this. It is something that will always be there....

Riot police in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, have broken up a five-day demonstration against the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko. More than 100 troops poured into the central square and loaded protesters onto waiting trucks. Small groups of demonstrators had gathered in the square since Mr Lukashenko secured a third term in office last Sunday. The opposition condemned the election result, saying the vote was rigged. The BBC's Emma Simpson says about 150 demonstrators were in the square when it was cleared in less than 20 minutes. An Associated Press reporter at the scene said some of the demonstrators were...

The authorities in Moscow have hastily removed posters congratulating Russian war veterans which mistakenly showed the American warship USS Missouri. The posters were taken down on Wednesday - just hours before Defender of the Motherland Day. The Russian defence ministry said it did not produce the posters. A Moscow city hall official said the design "should have been shown to specialists who can distinguish one battleship from another". A defence ministry spokesman, Vyacheslav Sedov, said "it was a civilian firm that produced the poster, and the people who made it were simply incompetent". "We do have similar ships, beautiful...

Nurses want patients who are intent on harming themselves to be provided with clean blades so that they can cut themselves more safely. They say people determined to harm themselves should be helped to minimise the risk of infection from dirty blades, in the same way as drug addicts are issued with clean needles. This could include giving the “self-harm” patients sterile blades and clean packets of bandages or ensuring that they keep their own blades clean. Nurses would also give patients advice about which parts of the body it is safer to cut. The proposal for “safe” self-harm —...

Tonight, our great country has voted for change, and Canadians have asked our party to take the lead in delivering that change. To Canadians I say this – we will honour your trust, and we will deliver on our commitments. There are no individual victories in politics. Politics is a team sport, and there are a number of people I would like to thank. First and foremost, I would like to thank the people of Calgary Southwest, for having given me the great privilege of serving another term in the House of Commons as your representative. Though I am not...

In a last-minute blow to high-profile Liberal candidate Michael Ignatieff, the president of the party’s riding association in Etobicoke-Lakeshore swung his support today to Conservative rival John Capobianco in Monday’s federal election. The controversial process by which Ignatieff was acclaimed the candidate over local hopefuls ruled ineligible by the party was a major factor in the decision, said Ron Chyczij, who had hoped to contest the nomination himself. "I can no longer in good conscience support the Liberal candidate in this riding," he said in a statement released this afternoon. "After the nomination fiasco, I’ve purposely waited on the sidelines...