Free Republic

Needing at least two male witnesses to convict a man of rape, Tyson must be in heaven… FORMER boxing champion Mike Tyson, who converted to Islam while in jail in the 1990s, is visiting the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina on pilgrimage. Tyson, who was world heavyweight champion from 1986 to 1990, arrived on Friday in Medina with the Canadian Dawa Association for the umrah, or minor pilgrimage, the newspaper Okaz said. From Medina he will travel on to Mecca and plans to visit other Saudi cities, it reported. Tyson, 44, converted to Islam while serving a 10-year...

Attorneys for a group of students who sued the state to suspend the high school exit exam have filed an emergency request with a state appeals court. They want the court to urgently hear their claims the test should be suspended for this year's graduating class. On Wednesday, the state Supreme Court stayed a lower court's injunction that had barred the exam from taking effect for the Class of 2006. It meant the exam would be a requirement for seniors to graduate. The students and their parents argued that the exam is discriminatory because all California students do not have...