Free Republic

VIENNA, Austria - The Bahamas has ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, bringing to 141 the number of nations that have done so, the Vienna-based organization that administers the accord said Tuesday. Brent Symonette, acting prime minister of the Bahamas, announced Monday that he had signed the instrument of ratification and sent it to U.N. headquarters, the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization said. The treaty, which bans all nuclear explosions, will not enter into force until it has been ratified by all 44 states — listed in an annex — that participated in a...

On May 2, a national election will be held in the Bahamas. The stakes are very high in this Island Nation. The Progresive Liberal Party (PLP) led by Prime Minister Perry Christie is up for re-election. Former PM Hubert Ingraham of the conservative FNM wants his old job back. Ingraham is still a member of Parlimnent, but chose not to run for PM in 2002, after 2 terms as Prime Minister. The PLP main slogan is NO Turning Back. A race baiting slogan that's purpose is to remind voters of the white minority rule. The whites last ruled in 1967...

Minister quits in Anna Nicole row News of the pictures sparked protests in the Bahamas The immigration minister of the Bahamas has resigned over a row about his involvement with the late Playboy model and actress Anna Nicole Smith. Newspaper pictures of Shane Gibson and Anna Nicole Smith embracing each other had sparked calls for him to leave. It was claimed that Mr Gibson had fast-tracked Smith's application for residency on the island. Mr Gibson apologised for any embarrassment he may have caused the country but denied any wrong-doing. 'Sorry' "I want to apologise to all persons who may in...

NASSAU, Bahamas, Oct 10 (Reuters Life!) - A man convicted of trying to rape an 83-year-old woman was sentenced to eight lashes with a cat-o'-nine-tails, a punishment used by the British Navy in the 18th century and reinstated in the Bahamas 15 years ago. Altulus Newbold, 34, was sentenced on Friday to 16 years in prison after being found guilty of burglary, attempted rape and causing harm. Justice Jon Isaacs ordered that he receive four lashes of the whip at the start of his sentence and four upon his release, but suspended the punishment for three weeks pending a possible...

NASSAU, Bahamas (Reuters) - A man convicted of trying to rape an 83-year-old woman was sentenced to eight lashes with a cat-o'-nine-tails, a punishment used by the British Navy in the 18th century and reinstated in the Bahamas 15 years ago. Click to learn more... Altulus Newbold, 34, was sentenced on Friday to 16 years in prison after being found guilty of burglary, attempted rape and causing harm. Justice Jon Isaacs ordered that he receive four lashes of the whip at the start of his sentence and four upon his release, but suspended the punishment for three weeks pending a...

In the hunt for Saddam Hussein's billions, investigators have identified five networks of more than 100 companies used to launder money skimmed from Iraqi oil sales. Saddam's gangster regime set up shell companies in Switzerland, Jordan, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg and Panama, according to investigators. Those company networks and their banking affiliations were used to enrich the former Iraqi strongman, his sons Uday and Qusay, and other family members. "Ultimately, the money was stolen from the Iraqi people," said Taylor Griffin, spokesman for the Treasury Department, which is heading the government's laundering probe along with U.S. Customs, the Secret Service and various...

MIAMI A passenger reported missing on a cruise to the Bahamas fell overboard after a night of heavy drinking with friends, authorities said Wednesday as Coast Guard crews suspended their search for the man. Friends of Daniel DiPiero, 21, of Canfield, Ohio, last saw him on the Mariner of the Seas around midnight Sunday, Petty Officer Dana Warr said. About two hours later, shipboard security cameras show DiPiero falling overboard from a rail near the front of the ship, investigators said. He was reported missing Monday morning when his friends realized he had not slept in the cabin they shared....

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) - A Bahamian government board's decision to ban the movie "Brokeback Mountain" has prompted charges of discrimination and censorship in the island chain. Gay rights groups and others have called on the Plays and Films Control Board to reverse its decision prohibiting theaters from showing the award-winning movie about a troubled love affair between two cowboys. "You have a group of people who are telling grown men and women what they can and cannot watch," said Philip Burrows, a theater director in the island chain. "I cannot understand denying people the right to make their own choices."...

<p>Thanks to John McCain, Free Republic will shut down tomorrow at high noon for 30 days. No non government approved electioneering messages may be transmitted over the internet for the 30 days immediately preceding a primary election.</p> <p>That is all.</p>

U.S. Hiring Chinese Co. to Scan Nukes By TED BRIDIS and JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press Writers 27 minutes ago WASHINGTON - In the aftermath of the Dubai ports dispute, the Bush administration is hiring a Hong Kong conglomerate to help detect nuclear materials inside cargo passing through the Bahamas to the United States and elsewhere. ADVERTISEMENT The administration acknowledges the no-bid contract with Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. represents the first time a foreign company will be involved in running a sophisticated U.S. radiation detector at an overseas port without American customs agents present. Freeport in the Bahamas is 65 miles from...

Members of Cuban exile groups gathered for a protest Saturday on Watson Island to flash signs and blare earsplitting trailer truck horns. They had unlikely targets: rows of cruise ships. They wanted passengers on Bahamas-bound cruise ships to know they say the island mistreats Cubans who land -- and are detained -- on the island chain.

Germans panic and dump their cats as Serbia joins the bird flu list Disease/Infection News Published: Sunday, 5-Mar-2006 Printer Friendly Email to a Friend According to an animal welfare society in Germany, hundreds of cats are being left at animal shelters following the disclosure earlier in the week that a cat on the island of Ruegen had died from the deadly bird flu. The charity says they are examining the abandoned cats for any sign of illness including bird flu. German veterinary authorities confirmed last week that a dead cat found on the Baltic island of Ruegen had been infected...

NASSAU, Bahamas -- A Florida television station said Wednesday that one of its reporters was struck by a prison guard in the Bahamas as he covered the detention of seven Cuban migrants held in the Caribbean nation after being stranded on a remote island. Reporter Mario Vallejo of Spanish-language WLTV Channel 23 in Miami was slammed into a car and hit above the eye Tuesday outside the detention center where the Cubans were detained on immigration violations, according to the station's news director, Emilio Marrero.

The Democracy Movement plans picketing in front of the Bahamas Consulate General in downtown Miami today at noon to protest the treatment of Cuban migrants detained in the Bahamas. The protest comes after news that four Miami TV journalists were injured and briefly jailed while covering the detention of Cuban migrants on the island. Mario Vallejo, a reporter with WLTV-Univisión 23, sustained a cut to the left side of his head Tuesday. He was treated at a local hospital, received seven stitches and was released. He is back in Miami today. Cameraman Osvaldo Duarte, also of Channel 23, was deatined,...

Qatar pledged $100 million in humanitarian assistance Saturday to help Americans recover from Hurricane Katrina, heading a list of more than a dozen countries joining an outpouring of support. They added to the more than 50 countries who had made pledges by the end of the day Friday. ``In these difficult circumstances, the people and the government of the state of Qatar would like to assure the people of the United States of its support and desire to assist the people in the affected area along the United States Gulf Coast,'' said a statement from the oil-rich Persian Gulf state's...

In an accelerating drive, more than 50 countries have pledged money or other assistance to help Americans recover from Hurricane Katrina. Cuba and Venezuela have offered to help despite differences with Washington. Oil giant Saudi Arabia and small countries like Sri Lanka and Dominica are among the nations making pledges. "I hope that will remind Americans that we are all part of the same community," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday as offers kept pouring in. None has been turned down, Rice said at a news conference, disputing a report from Moscow that a Russian offer had been rejected....

627 WONT41 KNHC 212106 DSAAT SPECIAL TROPICAL DISTURBANCE STATEMENT NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 510 PM EDT THU JUL 21 2005 REPORTS FROM AN AIR FORCE RESERVE UNIT RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT INDICATE THAT A TROPICAL DEPRESSION HAS FORMED ABOUT 130 MILES EAST OF NASSAU. AN ADVISORY ON THE DEPRESSION WILL BE ISSUED SHORTLY. FORECASTER FRANKLIN

Scouted L.I. for camp - feds The son of a former Malcolm X aide was nabbed yesterday, along with a Florida doctor, in a plot to start an Al Qaeda training camp in the U.S. - even scouting out a Long Island warehouse for a terror school, officials said last night. Tarik Shah, 38, a self-proclaimed martial arts expert from the Bronx, and Dr. Rafiq Sabir, 50, presented themselves as a "package deal" to help Muslim "brothers" wage jihad here and in the Middle East, said Manhattan U.S. Attorney David Kelley. Kelley said Shah - son of Lieutenant X, one...

Five-star luxury on the ocean floor: undersea hotel planned in the Bahamas 2 hours, 23 minutes ago Offbeat - AFP MIAMI (AFP) - Anyone willing to dish out 1,500 dollars a night might soon get a chance to come face to face with sharks from the comfort of an undersea hotel room a Florida entrepreneur plans to build in the Bahamas. AFP/DDP/File Photo "People who are interested in experiencing something they can't find anywhere else in the world will find it a real bargain," says Bruce Jones who heads the 40-million-dollar project. To date, there is only one such underwater...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- China is waging an aggressive campaign of seduction in the Caribbean, wooing countries away from relationships with rival Taiwan, opening markets for its expanding economy, promising to send tourists, and shipping police to Haiti in the first communist deployment in the Western Hemisphere. And the United States, China's Cold War enemy, is benignly watching the Asian economic superpower move into its backyard. Advertisement For decades China and Taiwan used dollar diplomacy to win over small Caribbean nations where small projects building roads, bridges, wells and fisheries go a long way. But Beijing's growing economic...

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Bahamian Minister of Health Dr. Marcus Bethel enjoy a laugh during a speech given by Dr. Perry Gomez, chief of internal medicine and infectious diseases at Princess Margaret Hospital Friday, Feb. 4, 2005, during a news conference on the hospital lawn in Nassau, Bahamas. Clinton, who is on a three-day visit to the Bahamas, toured the Specialty Clinic which houses the AIDS ward and announced at the briefing that the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation HIV -AIDS Initiative would fund the Bahamas programe. (AP Photo/Tim Aylen)

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!

BUSH'S US$50M BAILOUT Grenada, Jamaica, Haiti on rescue list Thursday, September 30th 2004 Victims in hurricane-ravaged islands such as Grenada, Jamaica and Haiti may soon have something to smile about, if a request from US President George Bush for $50 million to aid in international disaster and famine relief is granted by the US Congress. In a press release yesterday, the United States Embassy said the funds for the Caribbean formed part of a $7.1 billion supplemental budget request to assist US and international regions which were heavily damaged this hurricane season. So far, the United States has provided US$3.8...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS - Rosie O'Donnell's maiden gay and lesbian family cruise hit rough waters yesterday morning when more than 60 protesters greeted the ship in the Caribbean. Holding signs saying, "If you are openly gay, stay away," the protesters compared the 7:30 a.m. docking of the Norwegian Dawn and its 1,400 passengers to the arrival of the Trojan horse. "Regrettably, there are some people here who do not share and support our family values," said Gregg Kaminksy, co-founder of R Family Vacations, which is sponsoring the trip. O'Donnell steered clear of the protesters but her partner, Kelli Carpenter, and some...

Passengers on a gay cruise were greeted by more than 100 protesters as they stepped off their chartered ship Friday in the Bahamas. The protesters, led by Christian pastors, gathered in a square in front of the cruise terminal and chanted, "Gay Ways are Not God's Ways!"

Perry's trip to Bahamas with donors draws criticism Associated Press AUSTIN (AP) — "With all due respect, have you LOST YOUR MIND?" a Lockhart woman asked in an e-mail to Perry. "This little trip to the Bahamas ... has convinced a long-term, middle-aged conservative to vote you out of office." Letters and e-mails from 16 people to Perry's office were among documents related to his Presidents Day weekend trip that were released in response to a Public Information Act request by the San Antonio Express-News. Perry's office didn't release other documents relating to internal policy deliberations. The governor's office is...

Gay bishop appointment 'unacceptable' to Anglican Communion By TAMARA McKENZIE Guardian Staff Reporter The appointment of Canon V. Gene Robinson as a bishop of the Anglican Communion was found to be "unacceptable" by an overwhelming majority, said Archbishop Drexel Gomez Monday night. Archbishop Gomez attended an extraordinary "emergency" meeting of primates of the worldwide Anglican Communion on Oct. 15-16 in London. "For most of us assembled at the meeting, including the Archbishop of the West Indies, the issue of the ordination of Canon Robinson as a bishop is totally non-negotiable and we ask Anglicans across the Communion to pray for...

MIAMI (Reuters) - A cargo ship and a ferry boat collided off the Bahamian island of Eleuthera on Saturday, killing six people and injuring at least 16 others, the U.S. Coast Guard said. Rescuers from the Coast Guard, the Royal Bahamas Defense Force and the Royal Bahamas Police were searching an area about 9 miles southwest of Eleuthera, where the collision took place, for other possible victims, the Coast Guard said. The 98-foot ferry Sea Hauler and the 170-foot cargo vessel United Star collided before 1:30 a.m. EDT Saturday, the Coast Guard said in a written statement. U.S. Coast Guard...

CHINA WILL LIKELY replace the USA as world leader, said Bill Clinton in a recent Washington Post interview. It is just a matter of time. Clinton should know. He has personally done more to build China’s military strength than any man on earth. Most Americans have heard of the so-called "Chinagate " scandal. Few understand its deadly import, however. Web sites such as "Chinagate for Dummies" and its companion "More Chinagate for Dummies" offer some assistance. Unfortunately, with a combined total of nearly 8,000 words, these two sites – like so many others of the genre – offer more detail...

An envelope containing white powder in a Nassau post office has initially tested positive for anthrax. This is the first discovery of anthrax in the Caribbean, officials say. The letter was destined for a Bahamas address and had a local stamp, claims Police Commissioner Paul Farquharson. Investigators are naming the recipient or whether the envelope had a return address. Lab tests at a Nassau hospital indicate the presence of anthrax spores, says Chief Medical Officer Marceline Dahl-Regis. Officials are now waiting for the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to confirm it the bacterium. None of the 10 employees ...

Chinese Intelligence and Triads Team Up Against America In early 2000, six individuals, including a Chinese general, were indicted by a U.S. grand jury, convened in Detroit, for running an illegal smuggling operation. The indictment of Chinese Gen. Zhang (pronounced Fhang) Wei included as evidence videotape taken by a Canadian undercover operative who managed to penetrate the smuggling ring. (See: Inside the Dragon's Den.) Despite overwhelming evidence that the Chinese army was involved in the illegal smuggling operations, the Clinton administration quickly shut down the investigation and discouraged any release of information on the story. The tight lid on the...

By JIMENITA SWAIN Guardian Staff Reporter Tennel McIntosh was convicted Thursday by a twelve member jury on a manslaughter charge for the death of American visitor Lori Fogelman. "Tennel McIntosh the jury has found you not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter by provocation," Justice Jon Isaacs told an expressionless McIntosh after the verdict. The seven woman, eight man jury returned a not guilty verdict eight to four and a guilty verdict on the same count. Francis Cumberbatch from the attorneys general's office prosecuted the case and said that he was glad the long trial was over. He said...