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(IsraelNN.com) American Middle East security envoy General Keith Dayton has suggested $42 million in aid for Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas's presidential guard. The Bush administration wants the money to go to Abbas as quickly as possible to expand his militia to 6,000 fighters, who are in day-to-day clashes against the well-quipped and well-disciplined Hamas militia. British Prime Minister Tony Blair also has proposed immediate help of Abbas as western powers try to prevent Hamas from a military or political victory against Abbas and his Fatah faction. Abbas has called for new legislative elections in the next three months...

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY No matter how you cut it, being a father, or what now constitutes a Father is getting a whole lot fuzzier, and a lot less difficult.. They, my 5 kids, and 5 grand kids call me, Dad, daddy, old man, pa, papa, pop, and even Father, when I am needed most in my role of family patriarch.. Dad, is the rank, position, title, no matter which you choose, they all are music to my ears.. Everything about being a dad has been the only truly redeeming factor of my existence thus far. However, apparently not everyone sees...

PM Olmert approves defense minister's recommendation to enable weapons' transfer to PA chairman's security forces. Meanwhile, Hamas; Islamic Jihad officials express opposition to Abbas' proposed referendum on Palestinian state within '67 borders More reinforcements for Abbas: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert approved the recommendations of Defense Minister Amir Peretz to enable limited and controlled transfer of arms to the Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ security detail. Olmert apparently okayed the proposal before he left for the United States Sunday, and was disclosed for publication Thursday. Security officials said that the transfer would consist of a limited number of weapons and would be...

Eurovision in Athens on Saturday night The 51st Eurovision song contest will be held at OAKA's Olympic indoor hall in Athens on Saturday night and will be broadcast live at 10 p.m. by state-run NET television station. Thousands of specators saw the rehearsals at the indoor hall and applauded all the participants, especially Greece's Anna Vissi who will sing "Everything". The ten countries which qualified in Thursday night's semi-final were Bosnia-Herzegovina, Russia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Lithuania, Finland, Ukraine, Ireland, Sweden, Turkey and Armenia. Cyprus and Belgium, among others, were knocked out of the competition. The ten best...

Abba back Polish gays Published: 7th March 2006 16:11 CET Swedish pop veterans Abba have signed memorabilia together for the first time in a decade. Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad are auctioning signed posters, photos and music in support of gay rights in Poland. The signed Abba gear is being sold in an auction on eBay by Stockholm Pride, which organises the Swedish capital's gay pride parade every summer. The proceeds of the auction will go to Warsaw Pride, which has come under attack from Poland's new president, Lech Kaczynski. He banned last summer's gay pride...

Norway finally forgives women who slept with Nazi soldiers By Kate Connolly in Berlin (Filed: 27/10/2005) Norwegian women who slept with German soldiers during the Second World War and have been denied a special pension ever since as punishment are finally to be forgiven. Known as "tysketöser", German whores, they have until now been excluded from the war pension paid to all who remained true to "good national principles" during the occupation. Now, however, Norway's government has quietly reversed its policy of discrimination against the women and will start paying the money to the few dozen still left. "Very few...

If it’s a spot of singing, a shot of dancing and a lot of entertainment you’re after this week, then the Convent Hall in Belmullet is most definitely the place to be. Starting on Thursday night, the Transition Year students from Our Lady’s Secondary School in Belmullet will be taking to the stage to ‘trip the lights fantastic’ with their performance of the smash-hit West End musical, Mamma Mia! The musical masterpiece will run for three consecutive nights, commencing at 8pm sharp. Based on the songs of ABBA, one of the greatest pop groups the world has ever seen, Mamma...

I saw them in Stamford Connecticut's Palace Theatre last night and they were great! They're from Scotland, have been around about 7 years, and this is their first US tour. This one-nighter show was a sellout. The girls sang their hearts out, the guys were great, they were true to the stylings and the music. The costuming was authentic-looking. 40 min set, 20 min break, 40 min set, curtain call. (22 songs). For those of you in the area: they're schedded to be at the Decc Auditorium in Duluth Minnesota @7PM on February 23rd and if you're an ABBA fan,...

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!

Anni-Frid was persecuted as a child of the 'master race', reports Kate Connolly. Now people like her want justice Sunday June 30, 2002 The Observer When Abba sang 'Knowing Me, Knowing You', there was one member of the cult Swedish pop group for whom it had a special meaning. The brunette Anni-Frid Lyngstad is one of thousands of people who grew up in Scandinavia shunned, persecuted and parentless. It is alleged that some were even used as guinea pigs in drugs trials. Known as the Tyskerbarnas or German children, they were the offspring of Norwegian mothers and German soldier fathers,...

Members of the '70's Swedish Band Abba say they won't get back together--not even for 1 Billion dollars.An American-British consortium offered them that amount to reunite for 100 concerts, but they refused.'It is a hell of a lot of money to say no to, but we decided it wasn't for us.' Benny Andersson tells the Swedish tabloid Aftenbladet.ABBA disbanded 17 years ago, but their hit songs are curently experiencing an international revival.Part of the credit goes to the teen group A-Teens, whose covers of 'Gimme, Gimme, Gimme and 'Mamma Mia' have risen up the charts.And the musical 'Mamma Mia,' based...