Free Republic

Double blow to nuclear detente By Paul Reynolds World affairs correspondent, BBC News website A US military response to North Korea's move remains unlikely On the same day, the crises over the nuclear policies of North Korea and Iran have taken a turn for the worse. North Korea's announcement that it intends to carry out a nuclear weapons test is another grave twist in a crisis that appears to be without end or solution. And a senior British official has said it is now clear that Iran will not suspend uranium enrichment and that therefore moves to impose sanctions will...

The spiritual leader of Lebanon’s Sunnis, the Grand Mufti Sheik Mohammed Rashid Kabbani, said the pope’s remarks emanated either from "Ignorance and lack of knowledge or were deliberately intended to distort Islam." Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said “there should be no controversy; the pope has already explained his true intentions. The religious dialogue and the respect for every religion is a necessity, and religion doesn’t justify violence. Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said of Benedict XVI: He is a great pope, with great intelligence. Right-wing politician Roberto Calderoli said “I ask myself some crazy member of the Left...

SACRAMENTO - Although it's an election year, Democrats in the Legislature are getting along with Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger like never before. This week, the two sides made deals to raise the state's minimum wage and create a prescription drug discount program. The governor also is pursuing a deal on a Democratic proposal to reduce the greenhouse gases associated with global warming. The issues help Schwarzenegger appeal to the moderate voters who dominate the state, while denying his Democratic rival, state Treasurer Phil Angelides, avenues of attack. Democratic legislators, in turn, are trying to get what they can from Schwarzenegger...

Studies that link global warming to an increase in hurricane ferocity might be full of hot air, according to a research paper that will be published Friday in a major scientific journal. The paper, co-written by Chris Landsea of the National Hurricane Center in West Miami-Dade, challenges earlier findings that hurricanes have grown more powerful in the last 30 years. It says those studies failed to account for technological improvements that now produce more accurate -- and often higher -- estimates of a storm's power than were available in the past. 'If you say, `Hey, the number of Category 4...

Plants predict where rumbling volcanoes will blow 09 June 2006 NewScientist.com news service WANT to know where a rumbling volcano is likely to split at the seams? Look for the tallest and greenest plants. Vigorous plant growth on the flanks of a volcano like that at Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, can indicate where magma is most likely to spurt out. Satellite images reveal that shrubs and trees grow taller and greener along stripes where the volcano eventually ruptures. Nicolas Houlié from the University of California, Berkeley, and his colleagues studied satellite images of Mount Etna in Sicily and Mount Nyiragongo...

Gang 'plotted to blow up Ministry of Sound' By Duncan Gardham (Filed: 26/05/2006) An alleged al-Qa'eda terrorist cell discussed blowing up the Ministry of Sound nightclub to take revenge on "those slags dancing around", a jury heard yesterday. Top, from left: Jawad Akbar, Omar Khyam and Shujah Mahmood. Bottom, from left: Salahuddin Amin, Anthony Garcia and Waheed Mahmood Pictures of six of the seven alleged British terrorists were released for the first time as the court heard a covert recording made by MI5 in the student flat occupied by Jawad Akbar in Uxbridge, west London. Akbar, then 20 and studying...

WASHINGTON, April 29, 2006 – The establishment of democracy in Iraq will deal a severe blow to terrorism and help spread freedom throughout the region, President Bush said today. "By helping the Iraqi people build their democracy, America will deal the terrorists a crippling blow and establish a beacon of liberty in the Middle East," Bush said during his weekly radio address. "And that will make our nation and the world more secure." A democratic Iraq will deny the terrorists their immediate aim of turning Iraq into what Afghanistan was under the Taliban, a safe haven for terrorists to plot...

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2006 – A successful democracy in Iraq will be a major tactical and ideological blow to the totalitarian vision of Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants, President Bush said in California today. "One, it will be a tactical blow. We'll deny them that which they want," Bush said in a speech in Irvine. "But secondly, it will be a major blow because, in the long term, the best way to defeat an ideology of hatred is with an ideology of hope." Bush said the United States learned a lot of important lessons on Sept. 11, 2001. The...

Already facing deficits of more than $110 billion, public-employee pension plans in Los Angeles and elsewhere in the state have overestimated future investment income in a move that could imperil the systems and require taxpayer bailouts, former Mayor Richard Riordan and other financial experts warn. Pension systems in California are operating on assumptions of a 7.5 percent to 8.5 percent annual return on investment portfolios, but investment experts say historical trends suggest stocks will increase by only 6 percent to 7 percent annually. Coupled with rising retirement rates and growing pension benefits, the resulting squeeze could leave dozens of pension...

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (Reuters) - A U.S. free trade pact with Central America, already delayed by a legal wrangle, has run into further trouble at presidential elections in Costa Rica where voters punished the main pro-trade candidate. Costa Rica's electoral board began a recount on Tuesday of the vote from the weekend, which ended with a near dead heat despite opinion polls showing free trade advocate Oscar Arias would win easily. Arias, a former president who strongly backs the U.S.-Central American Free Agreement, or CAFTA, won just over 40 percent of votes on Sunday, on a par with main...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - One is believed to be a chemical weapons expert, another allegedly plotted assassinations. A third planned attacks targeting U.S. troops, while a son-in-law publicized their exploits in the name of al-Qaida and recruited new militants. Now this top group is believed to have been wiped out by a U.S. missile strike. If true, it's far from a death blow to al-Qaida, but analysts say it could weaken the terror group's operations in Afghanistan, which has seen an alarming rise in suicide attacks. The strike apparently missed al-Qaida's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri. And an audiotape aired Thursday, the first...

CIA Leak Will Blow Up in Democrat Faces November 3, 2005 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: As many of you know, I have been suspicious of this whole Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame Niger CIA story for a long time, and I wouldn't be surprised -- I can't make the allegation but I wouldn't be surprised -- if before this is all over we learn that the whole thing was an attempted coup, if you will, to send this guy Wilson over to Niger to purposely undermine the Bush war on terror and the Bush administration and hopefully have an effect on...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2005 – The millions of Iraqis who voted in their country's landmark Oct. 15, 2005, constitutional referendum have dealt a catastrophic blow to the worldwide al Qaeda terrorist network, which would like to subjugate them and the entire Middle East to a jihadist, terrorist tyranny, President Bush said today in his weekly radio address. "By casting their ballots," Bush said, "the Iraqi people deal a severe blow to the terrorists and send a clear message to the world: Iraqis will decide the future of their country through peaceful elections, not violent insurgency ... . "The terrorists," he...

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. and Iraqi forces have "mostly eliminated" the ability of insurgents to conduct sustained, high-intensity attacks in Baghdad, the top U.S. commander in the Iraqi capital said Friday. Maj. Gen. William G. Webster Jr. said in a video-teleconference interview from Baghdad with reporters at the Pentagon that offensive operations by U.S. and Iraqi troops in recent weeks had sharply reduced the number of insurgent bombings. But he cautioned against concluding that the insurgency has been broken. "It's very difficult to know it's over," Webster said. There were 14 to 21 car bombings per week in Baghdad before...

ROSEVILLE, Mich. - A woman identified by authorities as Denise Coke was arrested after a drug-sniffing dog discovered 33 pounds of cocaine in her vehicle. Roseville police acting on a tip gave Michigan State Police the description of a vehicle allegedly containing drugs. Coke, 25, of Detroit was arrested after being pulled over for speeding Tuesday night on Interstate 696. Coke was arraigned Wednesday on a charge of possession with intent to deliver more than 1,000 grams of cocaine, punishable by up to life in prison upon conviction. A judge set her bond at $1 million. Roseville Police Chief Richard...

French poll a blow to hopes for European constitution By David Rennie in Brussels (Filed: 19/03/2005) Europe's political establishment was sent reeling yesterday by the first opinion poll to suggest that French voters will reject the draft European constitution and deal the treaty a fatal blow. According to the CSA institute poll, 51 per cent of the French would vote against the constitution and 49 per cent for. Chancellor Schröder with President Chirac The poll marked a 14-point slump for the Yes camp since the last survey three weeks ago. A rejection from France would plunge the European Union into...

A Glimpse Ahead Timothy Snodgrass The Impossible Will Come Alive In 2005 01/28/05 In January of 2004, as we began to intercede for the New Year the Holy Spirit gave us the prophetic slogan, "The Seas will Roar in 2004". This year we were given a new slogan, "The Impossible will come Alive in 2005". As the veil of darkness begins to come down over nations and regions, along with great shakings will come great breakthroughs; signs, wonders, healings and a spectacular release of miracles in impossible circumstances. This year, although we are ultimately poised to gain much ground, there...

Bill Clinton strolls Duval, draws crowds of admirers BY CHELSEA SOLMO Citizen Staff KEY WEST — The nation's 42nd president strolled Duval Street Saturday morning, looking like just another tourist with his magenta polo shirt and tropical woven bracelet — despite the imposing team of bodyguards that surrounded him. Many on Key West's busiest street were taken by surprise by Clinton's visit. Excited customers and store owners and numerous tourists lined up on Duval for the opportunity to shake hands with the former president. Clinton answered questions, posed for pictures, shook hands and admired shop windows. Four months after his...

New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has long been rumored as desperately seeking the democratic nomination for president in 2008. And while many political observers fully expect the power hungry former First Lady to hit the campaign trail within only a few months of being re-elected as a US Senator in 2006, US News & World report claims to have a confirmation of sorts. From USNews.Com's Washington Whispers: Hillary's in… You don't have to take it from us about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 's desire to run for president. Her brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham, say it's true. Friends...

NEWSWEEK POLL: REPUBLICAN CONVENTION 2004 Bush/Cheney Lead Kerry/Edwards 54 to 43 Percent; in a Three-Way Trial Heat, Bush/Cheney Receive 13-Point Margin Bouncebr Bush Approval Rating Rises to 52 Percent; First Time Above 50 Since January; Majority (53%) Wants to See Him Re-Elected-Highest Since May 2003