Free Republic

MANCHESTER — A judge has ended efforts to reinstate a domestic-violence prosecution against Augustin Bahati, the Congolese refugee deemed culturally incompetent to stand trial earlier this year. Circuit Court Judge Kimberly Chabot said she wouldn’t grant city prosecutors a do-over of the case and dismissed the misdemeanor charges against Bahati, 33: four counts of domestic violence and one of sexual assault. The city’s top prosecutor on Tuesday ruled out an appeal. “All I can say is we made a decision not to appeal,” said acting City Solicitor Emily Rice. The Bahati case came to light in late June, when New...

Legendary singer Tony Bennett has slammed his home country of America for not contributing anything other than jazz music to world art and culture. The If I Ruled The World crooner feels that Europe and Asia offer far more culturally than America does. Bennett says, "I have travelled around the world to Asia and Europe. They show you what they have contributed to the world. The British show you theatre, the Italians show you music and art, the French show you cooking and painting, and the Germans show you science. "The only thing that the United States, which is still...

The Marines were hoping to lull Fallujah and al-Anbar province into a state of well-being by passing out $540 million in rebuilding funds, and showing off a more educated attitude about Arab sensitivities than they believed their U.S. Army predecessors displayed. Before returning to Iraq, the Marines took a crash course in cultural training that included a video teleconference with an Arabic studies professor and the distribution of a culture handbook with tips warning against showing the soles of their feet or eating with their left hands. Around three dozen Marines from one unit took a three week intensive language...