Free Republic

The Los Angeles Police Department launched a felony investigation into Charlie Sheen Tuesday after the actor allegedly made death threats against his former fiancée, porn star Brett Rossi, according to numerous reports. The reported investigation centers on allegations made by Rossi, whose legal name is Scottine Ross, during an interview with the LAPD last week. Ross is suing Sheen in civil court and claims he did not disclose his HIV-positive before they had unprotected sex. She filed a “criminal threats” report last week in California, and was awarded an emergency restraining order against Sheen. Police are reportedly working to obtain...

After 7 long years of arduous work, Iranian scientists here on Saturday introduced a herbal medicine which cures Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). "The drug named 'IMOD' is completely effective and safe with no proved side effects," Iran's Minister of Health, Treatment and Medical Training Kamran Bagheri Lankarani said during a ceremony at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Hospital.

Africa discovers dark side of Chinese master By Colin Freeman in Chambishi, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 1:05am GMT 04/02/2007 The smooth red carpet rolled out across Africa last week for Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, did not quite reach the gates of Zambia's Chambishi copper mine. A young street child outside a Chinese-run business centre His plans to make an official visit yesterday to the plant, which re-opened under Chinese state ownership eight years ago, fell victim to a hitch he rarely encounters at home: the not-so-grateful worker. Tipped off that miners were threatening protests about poor pay and conditions,...

AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry ordered today that schoolgirls in Texas must be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer, making Texas the first state to require the shots. The girls will have to get Merck & Co.'s new vaccine against strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV, that are responsible for most cases of cervical cancer. Merck is bankrolling efforts to pass laws in state legislatures across the country mandating it Gardasil vaccine for girls as young as 11 or 12. It doubled its lobbying budget in Texas and has funneled money through Women in Government,...

DAKAR, Senegal - A New Yorker's attempt to become the first black American to row solo across the Atlantic ended when his homemade boat sprung a leak hours after he left the coast of Africa Sunday. Victor Mooney radioed for help after his boat started taking on water, according to a press release on his Web site. He was rescued by the Senegalese navy, but the 24-foot craft he built for the journey sank into the ocean...