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VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) - A Navy helicopter based on an aircraft carrier crashed into the Atlantic Tuesday afternoon. All eight people aboard were rescued from a life raft. The helicopter from the USS Eisenhower crashed about 30 miles off Naval Air Station Oceana, according to Lt. Mark Jones, assistant public affairs officer for Commander Naval Air Force U.S. Atlantic Fleet. The MH-53E Sea Dragon, primarily used for minesweeping, was part of a helicopter squadron from the Norfolk Naval Station and was doing exercises with the Bataan, an amphibious assault ship. The eight crew members took refuge on a life...

Tourists run for their lives as the first of six tsunamis starts to roll towards Hat Rai Lay Beach, near Krabi in southern Thailand. One woman runs towards the waves. Photo: AFP The woman continues to run as the wave advances.Photo: AFP With the waves engulfing boats, the woman makes contact with her group. It is not known if they survived.Photo: AFP

ROME, December 28 (IslamOnline.net) – Despite right-wingers and xenophobes, the year 2004 can be dubbed as the “year of integration” for the Muslim community in Italy, though they desperately need a recognized union to unite their efforts against daunting challenges ahead. It is also partly thanks to several positive stances taken by the Italian government of Silvio Berlusconi, who has been keen on making no room for religious discrimination or bigotry, in addition to encouraging the Muslim integration into society as the best way to nib “radicalism” in the bud. The teaching of Islam in state-run schools has been a...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Sars virus is robust enough to survive in sewage By Steve Connor, Science Editor 06 May 2003 The virus responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) can survive outside the body much longer than previously thought, which could explain why it can spread so easily within a building. Tests by the World Health Organisation (WHO) show that the virus remains stable for up to four days in the faeces of infected people with diarrhoea. The findings could explain why more than 320 people from the Amoy Gardens apartment block in Hong Kong became infected after a man with Sars stayed...

Many observers of the war with Iraq are focused on the looming battle for Baghdad in anticipation that it will be the culminating event of the conflict, and it may in the end be so from an American perspective. But in the view of the Iraqi leadership, it may be only the end of a first stage in a greater Iraqi plan. . . . . . Phase I assumes eventual defeat in a conventional war. If defeat is inevitable, he must make the most of it. Anwar Sadat of Egypt reclaimed a measure of Arab pride in 1973 in...

Analysis: Can the old world order survive this much collateral damage?The credibility and future of the United Nations, Nato and the Commonwealth are threatened by deep divisions and public arguments By Rupert Cornwell in Washington 11 February 2003 This truly is the season of "collateral damage". As everyone knows, that weasel phrase was coined by the Pentagon to hide the ghastly realities of war, of the killing of innocent civilians and the destruction of their means of living. But even before war with Iraq has started, it threatens to do massive collateral damage of another kind – to the international...

It seems to me that a lot of focus on WorldCom these days is concentrated on a small handful of individuals who according to the press, at best expressed poor judgment, at worst, acted in a criminal manner that has led to investigations that will have a long term negative impact on a truly great company. Granted John Sidgmore, Scott Sullivan and Bernie Ebbers are in the spotlight right now, and we all know it is going to be very hot under those lights. Aside from these individuals, who is WorldCom? We should also ask what is WorldCom? Over the...