Free Republic

BERLIN (AFP) - International Olympic Committee vice-president Thomas Bach said a number of top athletes were considering boycotting the games in China over the bloody crackdown on protesters in Tibet. Bach told Bild am Sonntag newspaper he understood the athletes' concerns about the situation in Tibet but said he was advising them to participate. "They will realise when they assess the situation that it is better to make an appearance than to stay away. That is a symbol that will be noticed by the public," he said. Asked if human rights had been a concern when Beijing was selected to...

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon is considering a buildup of Navy forces in the Persian Gulf as a show of force against Iran, a senior defense official said Tuesday. Speaking on condition of anonymity because the idea has not been approved, the official said one proposal is to send a second aircraft carrier to the region amid increasing tensions with Iran, blamed for encouraging sectarian violence in neighboring Iraq as well as allegedly pursuing a nuclear weapons program. The United States and its European allies are seeking sanctions against Iran because of its refusal to stop uranium enrichment, a technology that...

SAN FRANCISCO - The California Attorney General's office has a month left to decide whether it will fight to see Gregory Allen Sturm die. On March 8, the California Supreme Court overturned the 35-year-old's death sentence for the August 19, 1990 robberies and murders of Darrell Esgar, Chad Chadwick, and Russell Williams. Death penalty opponents tout the court's decision as another example of increasing tensions over methods of criminal punishment in California. According to the court, however, the 5-2 decision overturning the death sentence focused on the trial judge's misconduct. Sturm is still convicted of the crimes, which occurred at...