Free Republic

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's leading news agency has denied reporting that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden would attend Pope John Paul's funeral Friday after a story attributed to it circulated widely on the Internet. "Some people just won't stop even at a time of mourning for the Pope: among the deluge of false emails, viruses and spam, a false item attributed to Ansa is circulating about Osama bin Laden attending the funeral of John Paul II," the Ansa agency said. In a dispatch issued late Tuesday, Ansa noted that the prankster, who specified bin Laden would be flying to...

RUSH: All right, we're going to go to the audio sound bites because at NBC's Today Show, very troubled are they that Jimmy Carter...Can I ask, before I play this audio, just a simple question? Why in the world should George W. Bush take Jimmy Carter anywhere? Why in the world should George W. Bush extend courtesies to Jimmy Carter? Jimmy Carter has his Nobel Peace Prize that he's coveted his whole life for one reason, because he spent a whole year going around the world trashing George W. Bush, his administration; trashed him personally and trashed our foreign policy....

ROME - Anti-aircraft rocket launchers are in place around Rome, and a navy warship armed with torpedoes is patrolling the coastline near the capital. Those and other security measures are Italy's menacing message to terrorists ahead of Pope John Paul II's funeral. AP Photo   Although Italian authorities are playing down the threat of an attack, they're also taking no chances: Friday's funeral will draw millions of pilgrims along with President Bush, two of his predecessors and dozens of monarchs, presidents and prime ministers. There are plenty of reasons why militants might consider a strike, foremost among them Italy's involvement...

President Bush said Monday he is looking forward to attending Pope John Paul II's funeral and expressing Americans' gratitude for the life of such a courageous, moral and holy man. As Bush prepared to leave for Vatican City later this week, he recalled a trip to the pope's summer residence as one of the fondest memories of his presidency. He said even though they didn't agree on everything, he always appreciated hearing the pope's point of view. "Of course he was a man of peace, and he didn't like war," Bush said after meeting with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko in...