Free Republic

Australia's opposition Labor Party has questioned the need for female sailors to be given breast enlargements paid for with public money. An armed forces spokesman defended the operations, saying they were carried out for psychological reasons, not to make sailors "look sexy".

Teen stripping video heightens scandal Antics by Norway's 'russ', reveling high-school students who celebrate impending final exams with often unbridled debauchery, have caused a new controversy after a stripping stunt was filmed and publicized via the Internet. This received a new wave of publicity when someone posted a video of the performance online and Norwegian news site TV 2 Nettavisen made the controversial decision to provide a link to the video on their site. TV 2 Nettavisen's editor Gunnar Stavrum backed the decision to point readers to the video. "The story has already been made public. The performance took place...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Silicone gel-filled breast implants won conditional approval to return to the broad U.S. market after a 13-year ban when health officials on Thursday backed a version made by Mentor Corp. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the device maker must satisfy a number of conditions before it receives final approval to sell the implants. FDA officials said they were legally prohibited from making the conditions public. Mentor said the conditions were "generally consistent" with recommendations from an FDA advisory panel earlier this year. In April, the expert panelists voted 7-2 to recommend approval of Mentor's silicone...

The Miss World contest is almost over. The preliminary event winners have been named; the photo below shows, from left to right, Top Model Miss Mexico; Talent award winner Miss Antigua; last year's Miss World, Rosanna Davison; Sports award winner Miss Wales; and Beach Beauty winner, Miss USA:

<p>January 27, 2003 -- New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg underwent surgery yesterday to treat a head injury from a skiing accident in Aspen, Colo., a month ago.</p> <p>The Democratic pol, who turned 79 on Thursday, fell and hit his head while skiing on Ajax Mountain in late December, said Tim Yehl, a spokesman for the senator. He had had a low-grade headache since then.</p>