Free Republic

ENEVA (Reuters) - The U.N.'s weather and climate agency said on Thursday there was no cause for alarm about a record-size hole this month in the ozone layer, that shields life on earth from the sun, as it should shrink again. The ozone hole that appears over Antarctica fluctuates in size, normally reaching its widest in the polar spring as extreme cold temperatures in the stratosphere and the return of sunlight unleash chlorine radicals that destroy ozone. Last year, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said it detected the first sign of ozone recovery, largely thanks to a 1987 ban on...

WASHINGTON - The Senate passed legislation Thursday to add 3 million lower-income children to a popular health insurance program in bipartisan defiance of President Bush's threatened veto. The 68-31 vote, one day after the House passed a more ambitious and expensive version over bitter Republican opposition, handed Democrats a solid achievement to trumpet as they leave Washington for a summer break. It also gave Democrats, who secured a veto-proof margin, a chance to draw a stark distinction between their priorities and Bush's on an issue that resonates with voters. "For the life of me, I can't understand why the president...

JERUSALEM - Israel's prime minister declared Monday there would be no cease-fire with Hezbollah guerrillas, saying "we will not give up on our goal to live a life free of terror." His Security Cabinet approved widening the ground offensive. Although Israel suspended most airstrikes on south Lebanon for 48 hours, its warplanes struck deep inside the country early Tuesday. They hit an area that is a stronghold of Hezbollah guerrillas, witnesses said. Warplanes also hit Hezbollah fighters battling with soldiers near the border as the guerrillas fired mortars into Israel. The cutback in Israeli airstrikes and a pause by the...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Iraq called Friday for a widening of the investigation of the U.N. oil-for-food program and demanded the immediate return of money in the U.N. account that paid for administration of the humanitarian relief effort. Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Samir Sumaidaie also reiterated the government's demand that the United Nations stop using oil-for-food money to pay for the independent investigation into the program led by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. "It is outrageous that Iraqi funds were mismanaged and then we have to pay for finding out about the mismanagement," he told a news conference a...

New Colo. Flu Deaths Spur Wider Worries DENVER - Two more Colorado children have died from the flu, raising the statewide total to at least five in an early outbreak that could be a sign of a severe flu season for the country, health officials said. The number of confirmed flu cases in Colorado has grown to more than 6,300, health officials said Wednesday — just over more than the number from the last two seasons combined. The flu season normally peaks in January and February and runs through April. The latest victims were a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old from...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is avidly anti-smoking, said on Friday he wanted to toughen the city's anti-smoking law by banning cigarette smoking in all restaurants and bars to protect workers. "It is just a health risk that workers should not be exposed to," Bloomberg said at a news conference. "If there were asbestos in the air we would immediately close the place down ... this is just as dangerous." If the New York City Council passed the amendment to a 1995 law that forbids smoking in all restaurants with more than 35 seats, America's...