Free Republic

Rafael Nadal broke a three-way tie with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic by claiming his 21st Grand Slam title Sunday, coming back to beat Daniil Medvedev, 2-6, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5, in the 2022 Australian Open men's singles final. Nadal rallied from two sets down -- just the third comeback from 0-2 at a major for Nadal in his career -- to win the marathon five-setter. Nadal, 35, along with Federer and Djokovic make up the generation-defining Big Three that has dominated the professional circuit for well over a decade now. With Nadal's 2022 Australian Open championship, the second...

Did you catch ABC's recent special on an incubator to boost preemie survival in Africa and a new machine to diagnose tuberculosis in the developing world? Perhaps you saw Ray Suarez's three-part series on poverty and AIDS in Mozambique on the PBS NewsHour. Or listened to Public Radio International's piece on the rationing of kidney dialysis in South Africa. Beyond their subject matter, these reports have something else in common: They were all bankrolled by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Pornography taints everything it touches. Mitt Romney should have understood that. So should the Marriott Corporation and other hotel owners who offer hard-core movies in hotel rooms. Romney caught a bit of flack last week because he spent nearly 10 years on the Marriott board and yet never tried to reverse the company's policy of providing pornography on demand, something J.W. "Bill" Marriott Jr., defended in a 2000 letter as being economically important. The corporation controls only a few of the hotels with its name on them. For a presidential candidate who has railed against pornography, this is not entirely...

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration's decision to sometimes bypass the secretive U.S. court that governs terrorism wiretaps could threaten cases against terror suspects that rely on evidence uncovered during the disputed eavesdropping, some legal experts cautioned. These experts pointed to this week's unprecedented resignation from the government's spy court by U.S. District Judge James Robertson as an indicator of the judiciary's unease over domestic wiretaps ordered without warrants under a highly classified domestic spying program authorized by President Bush. Neither Robertson nor the White House would comment Wednesday on his abrupt resignation from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the little-known...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - In a city more accustomed to scandals in Hollywood than City Hall, claims of public corruption and fraud are dogging the re-election campaign of decidedly low-profile Mayor James Hahn. County prosecutors have been probing allegations that Hahn supporters shook down firms which wanted to do business with the city by tying public contracts to political contributions. Federal prosecutors have opened their own inquiry. Although Hahn has not been implicated and denies knowledge of any potential wrongdoing, the investigations touch whole segments of city government - from members of Hahn's inner circle to Los Angeles International Airport...

Pete Franklin, Cleveland's most successful and controversial sports talk host, has died of cancer in central California. He was 77. He died Nov. 23. Franklin was the first man to make a street fight out of Cleveland radio, using a mix of egomania, ho kum and cruel ty. "Pete was the star, and he let everybody know it," said Dave Dombrowski, Frank lin's producer from 1980 to 1987. Before he arrived in 1967, radio personali ties spoke quietly and courteously, in civilized tones. Franklin changed all that. He screamed and berated listeners, often calling them "creeps, jerks and morons." He...

<p>SACRAMENTO - Gov. Gray Davis is so unpopular that his advisers don't plan to persuade voters to like him. And he may face so many rivals in the Oct. 7 recall election that he won't be able to win the way he's always won before, by attacking his opponent.</p>

Corruption Allegations Taint Milwaukee Jun 15, 5:14 PM EDT By JULIET WILLIAMS Associated Press Writer MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Wisconsin's once-clean political image, damaged by recent scandals in state, county and city government, could be further sullied this week as a trial begins for a Milwaukee alderman accused of extortion and fraud. Paul Henningsen's trial follows guilty pleas from two former colleagues, who resigned their seats after being indicted on federal corruption charges. "I think it's shaken up people in terms of Milwaukee not being the kind of city where this happens," said Alderman Fred Gordon, an 11-year council member who...