Free Republic

It was 34 years ago today that Roe vs. Wade almost became the first Supreme Court ruling to be preceded with a full news release to introduce a newly invented right to the public. Justice Blackmun‘s press release, had it been released, would have emphasized that the court was not giving women "an absolute right to abortion," nor was it saying that the "Constitution compels abortion on demand." There is every bit of evidence that the court knew it was treading on shaky ground, and that they could not even decide which justification to use to strike down a Texas...

Row over Australian Muslims intensifies By Nick Squires in Sydney Last Updated: 12:28pm GMT 31/10/2006 A bitter row over the attitude among Muslims towards women in Australia intensified today when a senior Islamic cleric complained that Muslim men convicted of rape received much heavier penalties than white offenders. Sheik Mohammed Omran said Muslims found guilty of rape were dealt with more harshly than other sex offenders such as members of motorcycle gangs or “football stars”. He appeared to be referring to the gang rape of several white Australian girls by a group of young Muslim men in 2000. One of...

Blair leaves Straw isolated in row over veils By Graeme Wilson, Political Correspondent (Filed: 07/10/2006) Jack Straw provoked anger yesterday by suggesting that community relations would be helped if Muslim women did not wear full veils. One of several mosques in Blackburn, which has a large Muslim population Jack Straw was left out in the cold by Tony Blair and Cabinet colleagues last night after he stepped up the row over Muslim veils by saying that it would be better if women discarded them altogether. The Leader of the Commons faced fierce criticism from some Muslim groups after disclosing that...

New twists in Russian 'spies' row (Filed: 02/10/2006) Russia has suspended all transport links with Georgia, just hours after the former Soviet state tried to defuse a growing diplomatic row between the two countries. The Russian officers appeared in a Tblisi court last week to face spying charges Georgia announced this morning that it would hand over four Russian military officers arrested last week on spying charges to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), an international body that had been mediating between the two sides. An OSCE spokesman said the men would no longer face charges. But...

Police patrols at churches stepped up in Pope row By John Steele and Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent (Filed: 19/09/2006) Police patrols have been increased around hundreds of churches and mosques because of fears that the Pope's comments about Islam could provoke violence. Clergy in the London area have been visited by officers or have been asked to contact their local stations urgently to discuss security. They have been given numbers to call if their churches are attacked. In what Scotland Yard described as a "reassurance" exercise, it decided at the weekend to act quickly to increase security around churches and...

Immigration row brings down Dutch government By Joan Clements in The Hague (Filed: 30/06/2006) The Dutch government is to resign after the smallest party in the ruling coalition withdrew its support in a row over immigration, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende announced last night. The party, known as D66, withdrew its support after weeks of tension in the Netherlands over a call by Rita Verdonk, the immigration minister, for a Somali-born former MP, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, to be stripped of her Dutch citizenship over false information she gave to immigration officials. Mr Balkenende reacts during a debate about Ms Hirsi...

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali-born Dutch politician known for her outspoken criticism of Islam, plans to leave parliament and move to the United States after admitting she lied to win asylum in the Netherlands. Hirsi Ali, 36, sought asylum in the Netherlands in 1992, claiming to be escaping from an arranged marriage. She gained Dutch citizenship in 1997 and was elected to parliament in 2003. A storm erupted about her asylum application last week after a Dutch television documentary interviewed members of her family about her background. They said she had not been forced into an arranged...

£1m mosque beams pulled from auction in ownership row By Stephanie Condron (Filed: 04/04/2006) Christie's has cancelled the sale of five wooden beams from the 1,200-year-old mosque in Cordoba in Spain which were expected to fetch more than £1 million at auction today. Lawyers for one of the most important Islamic buildings in the West successfully blocked the sale of the 10th century beams amid arguments over who owns them. The sale, which was to be the highlight of the Islamic art manuscripts auction today, was to have seen each carved beam reach bids of up to £300,000. "I am...

Scientists row over Gosnold claim Scientists still hope to establish remains were Gosnold's US experts claim that bones alleged to belong to a founder of the country are authentic and a skeleton buried in the UK, thought to be his sister, is not. The archaeologists in Virginia are arguing with UK experts over American founding father Bartholomew Gosnold, born in Grundisburgh, Suffolk. DNA tests revealed a skeleton buried in Suffolk is not related to the US bones. US experts claim they have the real Gosnold while UK scientists believe the Suffolk skeleton is authentic. The British experts believe the body...

French film legend Brigitte Bardot sent a letter to President Bush on Wednesday urging him to prevent the execution of a prisoner on death row in Texas. Bardot said she had been deeply touched by a letter from the prisoner, Farley C. Matchett, who was convicted for a 1991 killing committed during a three-day crime spree. His execution has not yet been scheduled. "This man's story truly touched me," Bardot wrote, urging Bush to use his powers to order a new trial for Matchett. The "And God Created Woman" star, who has concentrated on animal rights campaigns in recent years,...

Computer codes row threatens £12bn jet order By Francis Harris in Washington (Filed: 15/03/2006) Britain threatened the United States yesterday that it will cancel its £12 billion order for the new Joint Strike Fighter unless America agrees to give the Armed Forces full access to the warplane's critical computer codes. Lord Drayson, Minister for Defence Procurement, issued the blunt warning as he arrived in Washington to address members of Congress. Without full access to computer software the JSF could be ‘switched off’ The bad-tempered row not only threatens the 150-aircraft programme, but also the intimate Anglo-American military partnership. Without full...

Afghanistan in 'bomb plot' row with Pakistan By Isambard Wilkinson in Islamabad (Filed: 13/03/2006) A former president of Afghanistan accused Pakistani military intelligence of trying to kill him in a suicide attack, intensifying an increasingly bitter row between the two countries. Sibghatullah Mojaddidi, who is now in charge of a commission to encourage Taliban members to lay down their arms, was wounded in the attack yesterday that killed two bombers and two civilians. The wreckage left by the bomb blast that narrowly missed the car carrying Mr Mojaddidi [right] Mr Mojaddidi was being driven to work on a main road...

Russia 'to break ranks' in Iran nuclear row By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor (Filed: 07/03/2006) Western countries were alarmed last night by signs that Russia was ready to break ranks and agree to Iran's demand to continue nuclear "research and development", fearing that this would make it easier for Teheran to develop nuclear weapons. Briefed about the latest Russian proposals, Mohammed ElBaradei, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), expressed the hope that a compromise could be reached "in the next week or so". Mohammed ElBaradei: diplomacy But Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, was...

Saudi paper 'shut' in cartoon row By Sebastian Usher BBC World media correspondent Saudis have begun boycotting Danish products A newspaper in Saudi Arabia has stopped publishing after printing some of the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Shams (Sun) has been suspended as part of an investigation into its decision to publish the cartoons that have caused anger across the Muslim world. It printed them next to articles urging Saudis to take action against Denmark where the cartoons first appeared. Three weeks ago, Shams, became one of few newspapers in the Arab world to print some of the cartoons. The...

U.S. Senate set to confirm Alito to Supreme Court By Thomas Ferraro 1 hour, 22 minutes ago Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito walks into the office of Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) on Capitol Hill, January 30, 2006. (Jason Reed/Reuters) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Conservative federal appeals court judge Samuel Alito appeared certain to win Senate confirmation on Tuesday as President George W. Bush's second successful nominee to the Supreme Court. Following several days of debate, the Senate was to vote on Alito, who could move the high court to the right. Alito had a commitment from a required simple majority of...

SAUDI Arabia has recalled its ambassador to Denmark, saying the government had not taken enough action over newspaper cartoons seen as mocking Islam and Mohammad. "[We] recalled the ambassador in light of the Danish government's lack of attention to insulting the Prophet Mohammad by its newspapers," a government official said.

EU nations have started to feel the impact of Russia's axeing of gas supplies to Ukraine, as Moscow accused Kiev of stealing EU supplies. Hungary and Poland were the first EU states to have supplies disrupted. Russia's state-run firm Gazprom cut Ukrainian supplies from the pipelines on Sunday after talks failed to solve a politically-charged price row. Exports to the EU are carried through the same pipes, and Gazprom now says Kiev is stealing some of that gas. "There is information that Ukraine has begun siphoning off Russian gas that is designated for European users," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kuprianov was...

HOUSTON -- A Texas death row inmate, disguised in civilian clothing, escaped late Thursday from the Harris County Jail. Charles Victor Thompson, 35, of Tomball, was in Houston after being re-sentenced last week to execution. "Apparently he fooled somebody into thinking he had some reason for being there, and they let him out," said Sheriff's Office Lt. John Martin. Further details on the escape were under investigation, Martin said in a story in the online edition of the Houston Chronicle. Thompson had been expected to be returned to the Texas prison system within 45 days, according to Department of Criminal...

Schroeder warns Blair as EU rebate row hots up (Filed: 13/06/2005) Tony Blair has been publicly warned by Gerhard Schroeder, the German chancellor, that there was "no place for national egotism" in the debate over Britain's EU rebate and the future financing of Europe. The warning came after the Prime Minister had said he would be prepared to discuss the £3billion a year rebate as part of a radical rethink of all EU finances, including scrapping massive subsidies to farmers. The fresh war of words over Europe was just a taste of things to come, as Mr Blair continues his...

Blair rebukes Chirac in row over British rebate By George Jones, Political Editor (Filed: 10/06/2005) Tony Blair yesterday traded cross-Channel blows with Jacques Chirac, the French president, after deciding to toughen up his defence of the £3 billion-a-year rebate on Britain's contributions to the European Union's budget. In language reminiscent of the Anglo-French spats when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister, Whitehall sources said Mr Blair was not prepared to take "lectures" from France and Luxembourg, which did much better than Britain out of the EU. Tony Blair: not prepared to take 'lectures' from France Mr Blair was stung into action...