Free Republic

Two deputy U.S. marshals were shot early Friday morning in the Bronx as they tried to arrest a 35-year-old man sought in connection with the shooting of a state trooper in Massachusetts, the authorities said. The man, Andre K. Sterling, was killed as he exchanged fire with the deputies, who were expected to survive, the authorities said.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, the powerful House Democrat who represented Baltimore for more than two decades and was a vocal critic of President Trump, died early Thursday after battling health problems, his office said in a statement. Cummings, who was 68, died at Gilchrist Hospice Care, a Johns Hopkins affiliate. As chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, he was one of the most powerful Democrats in Washington, and played a key role in the House Democrats' ongoing efforts to impeach Trump.

LOS ANGELES — California Democrats have increased their legislative clout despite a Republican backlash that prevented their capturing the supermajority they have long sought in the state Senate. Jerry Brown's elevation to governor and voters' approval of Proposition 25 Tuesday will further erode Republicans' influence. The ballot measure lowers the vote needed to pass a budget to a simple majority, down from the current two-thirds supermajority. . . . Sen. Jenny Oropeza, D-Long Beach, won re-election in the heavily Democratic 28th Senate District despite her death Oct. 20, setting up a special election...

President George W. Bush said Cubans "on the island" ought to decide what kind of government and future they want before US-based exiles take up grievances like property confiscated under the communist Fidel Castro regime. "Our desire is for the Cuban people to be able to choose their own form of government," he said. The US leader declared that while "Cuba has the possibility of transforming itself from a tyrannical situation to a different type of society ... the people on the island of Cuba ought to decide" how that change occurs. "Once the people of Cuba decide the form...

SACRAMENTO — A defiant state Senate met late into Thursday night, threatening to stay locked down until dawn in a last-ditch effort to do its part to pass a budget by the start of the fiscal year today. (snip) Their effort was unsuccessful on an initial Thursday night roll call... Democrats held the session as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger left Sacramento for Los Angeles, where he will attend today's inauguration ceremonies for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. (snip) Administration spokesman Rob Stutzman said ... "We are not real sure what the point of the theatrics were, other than to possibly let...

A great way to send your dear, departed pet to the great beyond...

Farouk Kadoumi, the veteran hard line Fatah leader, who has served for many years as the PLO’s foreign minister claims Israel and the US conspired to get rid of Arafat. Speaking to the Arabic language daily Al-Bian he said that after having constantly failed in their attempts to kill Arafat, the two countries conspired to kill him. “The PLO has set up an investigative committee to examine all the evidence pointing to the conspiracy”, he said, admitting “that so far we have not succeeded in discovering how this was done, as no traces of any known toxin have been found”....