Free Republic

As the temperature dropped into the 50s in central Pennsylvania Saturday, things were heating up in the final push to the November 5 election. Thus was the case in State College as former President Donald Trump made the first of two possible stops at Penn State. His presence invited challenge from two grassroots organizations and a smattering of others on campus. Around 50 protesters with signs featuring progressive rhetoric marched up University Drive and wrapped around the Bryce Jordan Center onto Curtin Road, loudly decrying racism, fascism and the excesses of capitalism. “Dare to struggle, dare to win… Make racists...

Irish Viking trade centre unearthed Almost 6,000 artefacts and a Viking chieftain's grave have been discovered One of the Vikings' most important trading centres has been discovered in Ireland. The settlement at Woodstown in County Waterford is estimated to be about 1,200 years old. It was discovered during archaeological excavations for a road by-pass for Waterford city, which was founded by the Vikings. The Irish government said the settlement was one of the most important early Viking age trading centres discovered in the country. Its working group, which includes archaeologists from Ireland's museum and monuments service, said it was of...

UK is Europe's top terror centre, arrests show Last Updated: 10:55pm BST 26/04/2008 Britain has become the main focus of Islamist terror in Europe, according to official figures. More Muslim extremists were detained in Britain last year on terror-related charges than in the rest of Europe added together. The number of arrests rose steeply and involved "young, radicalised British citizens", sparking fears that the threat of an attack is growing. The report by Europol, the European police force, said that terrorist plots linked to groups in Pakistan had been "almost exclusively focused on the UK". It comes following the disclosure...

LONDON (AFP) - Authorities were still hunting Monday for 14 illegal immigrants, all convicted criminals, who escaped from a detention centre. Twenty-six men went on the run from the Campsfield House Immigration Detention Centre in Oxfordshire, southern England, on Saturday after detainees started fires and broke out. Police officers in riot gear were called in to deal with the blaze, while helicopters and dogs have been used in the hunt for those still at large. Police have rounded up 12 of those who fled, but 14 remain on the run and the Home Office has warned that they are all...

Administration of the city Kazan, which is considered the Muslim hub of Russia, has extensive plans of turning the city into an influential centre of business and religious tourism and to attract pilgrims from around the world, like Mecca.

University students at centre of terror plots By Roya Nikkhah, Andrew Alderson and Julie Henry (Filed: 13/08/2006) The recruitment of Muslim students at British universities to take part in terrorist attacks is at the heart of the alleged plot to blow up passenger jets, it is feared. A dossier of extremist Islamic literature has been uncovered by The Sunday Telegraph on the campus of a north London university, one of whose students has suspected links to the alleged terrorist attack. A tape produced by al-Muhajiroun Waheed Zaman, 22, a bio-chemistry student and the president of the Islamic Society at London...

'Gang plotted to buy a radioactive bomb from Russia and attack shopping centre' By John Steele, Crime Correspondent (Filed: 23/03/2006) Terrorists linked to an alleged al-Qa'eda gang which plotted a bombing campaign in Britain tried to buy a radioactive bomb from the Russian mafia, the Old Bailey was told yesterday. The gang was also said to have discussed attacking the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, a London nightclub, and gas and electricity facilities The Bluewater shopping centre in Kent A Luton taxi driver who is said to be a member of the alleged gang was given information while in Pakistan...

Files 'lost' at bird flu centre By Charles Clover, Environment Editor (Filed: 02/12/2005) Confusion rose over the handling of bird flu in Britain yesterday when the Government said it had overlooked 2,000 birds processed by the quarantine centre where the first cases were found. Margaret Beckett, the Environment Secretary, said "misfiled" records showed that the birds from Tanzania had passed through the centre in July and August - two months before the disease was found. It had been thought previously that no shipments had passed through Pegasus Birds, in Essex, since March. She added in a Commons written statement that...

53 birds died at bird flu centre Mark Oliver and agencies Tuesday November 15, 2005 More than 50 birds imported from Taiwan were the most likely source of a bird flu outbreak at a UK quarantine centre last month, an official report said today. The study, published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), said a consignment of 101 Taiwanese mesia birds had been the most likely source of the outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain at Pegasus Birds, in Essex. It said it was impossible to say how many of the 53 birds killed in the...

No longer centre stage, but Clinton leaves them calling for more By Philip Sherwell in New York (Filed: 18/09/2005) If there was any doubt that Bill Clinton still elicits the adoration of women, Barbra Streisand was on hand last week to squash it. As the former president laid out his agenda for world change from a podium flanked by Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice and King Abdullah of Jordan, the singer-actress emitted a series of gentle but disconcerting squeals of approval, interspersed with admiring sighs. Bill Clinton and Tony Bennett Hers was typical of the audience reaction at launch of the...

Archeologists dig up ancient casting centre (05-04-2005) Story in stone: An arterfact found at Den Citadel. — Archeologists claim to have found the country’s largest Bronze Age metallurgy centre, estimated to be 3,500 years old. The site, located at the Den Citadel in Phu My Hamlet, Tu Lap Commune, Me Linh District, in the northern province of Vinh Phuc, has yielded many discoveries which indicate that the site is the largest centre of bronze casting in Viet Nam to have been discovered so far, said Lam Thi My Dung, director of the Museum of Anthropology. Metallurgy and bronze-casting are representative...

Fatal fire at India space centre A fire has ripped through India's main space centre killing at least six people, police say. A number of people were also injured in the blaze at the Sriharikota centre, on an island off Andhra Pradesh state. Reports say an explosion triggered the fire at a solid propellant plant, where advanced rocket fuel is prepared. The fire is reported to be under control. The centre, built in 1971, assembles and tests rockets, and has a satellite launch pad used by several countries. Satellite launches A rocket on its launch pad at Sriharikota The Satish...

Chemical alert at Muslim centre Specialists have been called in after a suspected chemical powder was pushed through the letterbox of a property believed to be a Muslim centre. The area around the property in Regent Grove, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, was sealed off. More than 20 firefighters in full chemical protection suits were attending the incident, a fire service spokesman said. It was not clear what the light yellow powder was, but chemical specialists were called in to test the substance, the spokesman said. Story filed: 16:01 Sunday 21st September 2003

Doctor at centre of killer flu virus is latest victim By Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor 30 March 2003 The World Health Organisation doctor who first identified the deadly pneumonia virus which has killed at least 55 people worldwide has died. The number of people infected with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) rose sharply in Hong Kong, where the virus is most prevalent: 45 additional cases were reported yesterday. But fears about the virus have spread in Singapore, where cinemas and shopping malls were deserted yesterday. Taiwan joined Hong Kong and Singapore in quarantining people at home if they had...