Free Republic

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made a surprise cameo in the city's mayoral race Thursday, lining up behind a controversial proposal by candidate Bob Hertzberg to dismantle the huge Los Angeles Unified School District. The popular governor, who lives in the city's Brentwood section, has said he will not endorse a candidate before the March 8 primary election. But Schwarzenegger, by embracing Hertzberg's signature issue, appears to be sending a tacit signal of his preference without taking the political risk of a formal endorsement in a crowded field. The Republican governor is backing Hertzberg's plan because he "supports...

SEOUL (Reuters) - A North Korean fighter plane intruded into South Korea (news - web sites)'s airspace on Thursday and the communist state, again using strident rhetoric, said nuclear war could break out on the peninsula at any time. The air incursion, the first by the North since 1983, was a fresh reminder of the tensions awaiting Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) when he visits the region from the weekend. North Korea (news - web sites)'s official KCNA news agency said in a commentary that "the situation on the Korean peninsula and northeast Asia is so...