Free Republic

BRISBANE, Australia, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Five children in Australia and New Zealand have been hospitalized after eating Chinese-made toy beads found to contain the date rape drug GHB. Australia Tuesday recalled the Bindeez beads after two children in Sydney who ate the beads became drowsy or unconscious and had to be hospitalized. Two toddlers in Auckland and a 19-month-old in Brisbane have also required hospitalization, the newspaper said. A spokesman for Moose Enterprise, the Australian importer of the toys -- which were the top-selling toy this year -- said the company was not aware of and did not approve...

HAVANA -- During a historic visit last week, former President Carter urged the U.S. government to shelve its 40-year-old policies against communist Cuba. But when President Bush has the last word today, he plans to do just the opposite. In Washington, and later in the heart of Florida's politically powerful Cuban-American community, Bush is expected to lay out his agenda to clamp down even tighter on this island 90 miles from the U.S. shore. Bush believes continued pressure on Cuban President Fidel Castro will force the communist leader to allow democratic elections and address human rights issues in his country....

WASHINGTON (AP) - To undermine Fidel Castro, the United States must ease its four-decade-long embargo on Cuba, facilitate sales of U.S. agricultural goods and allow U.S. travel to the island, a bipartisan group of 40 members of the House contends. "For over forty years, our policy toward Cuba has yielded no results," said Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., a House International Relations Committee member. "Castro hasn't held free and fair elections, he hasn't improved human rights, and he hasn't stopped preaching his hate for democracy and the U.S. "I think it's safe to say that our current policy has failed," Flake...