Free Republic

The alleged gang rape of an 11-year-old girl by at least 18 boys and young men has sparked shame and outrage in a tiny Texas town, but it has also stirred racial tensions that threaten to split the East Texas hamlet... The rape allegedly occurred last November, and the list of suspects has been growing as arrests keep coming. It's not clear whether more arrests are in the works. The suspects range in age from 14 to 26, include stars on the high school's basketball team as well as the son of a school board member... "Every adult male that...

MEXICO CITY The bodies of five men who had been shot in the head were found Friday in the violent border city of Nuevo Laredo, across the Rio Grande from Laredo, Texas, police said. A sixth man who survived the attack was listed in serious condition at a local hospital under police guard, State Police Director Leonel Lozano said in a news release. Police, who received an anonymous tip, found the bodies early Friday along the highway leading from Nuevo Laredo to Monterrey, the news release said. All the victims, between the ages of 18 and 25, had been shot...

(IsraelNN.com) Diplomats living in Gaza have stated that they have located the whereabouts of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier kidnapped yesterday during the terror attack on Kerem Shalom. The prime minister has stated that Israel will not agree to the release of Arab prisoners, and Israel has threatened to strike at senior Hamas figures, including members of the PA government, if Shalit is not released. The diplomats, who are involved in negotiations for his release, told the Ha’aretz newspaper that Gilad is being treated well. Although he is injured, he is in a good state of health. They also expressed...

Tijuana, Mexico, Jun 21 (EFE).- The decapitated bodies of four people, including three police officers, were found Wednesday in northern Mexico near the U.S. border, authorities said. The four individuals went missing Tuesday night and on Wednesday morning their bodies were found wrapped in blankets in the Pacific coast city of Rosarito and their heads in bags in Tijuana, said Rosarito police chief Valente Montijo. He identified the dead as police officers Ismael Arellano Torres, Jesus Hernandez and Adrian Ventura, and civilian Fernando Aguilar, a Mexican-American resident of Arizona. According to Montijo, the cops and the other man - who...

WASHINGTON, Apr. 10, 2006 (AP) The Bush administration may severely restrict the movements of Venezuela's ambassador if pro-government activists in Venezuela engage in any more "thuggish" activities against U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield, a spokesman said Monday. There have been four incidents of harassment directed at Brownfield in recent weeks, including one last Friday when his convoy was pelted with eggs, tomatoes and other food. The convoy was also pummeled by motorcyclists during a miles-long chase through Caracas. "If we see an incident like this again, I think that there are going to be serious diplomatic consequences between our two countries....

WASHINGTON — The State Department accused Caracas city officials of complicity Friday in an attack on the car of U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield in the Venezuelan capital. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns summoned Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez to the State Department and told him that Venezuela was in violation of an international treaty that requires the host countries to ensure the safety of foreign diplomats, department spokesman Sean McCormack said. The incident "clearly was condoned by the local government," McCormack said. Pro-government activists bombarded Brownfield's car with fruit and vegetables and a group of motorcyclists chased the convoy, at times...

United Nations: The world body this week invited Zimbabwe's dictator, who starves his own people for political purposes, to its World Food Day — where he compared President Bush to Hitler. We kid you not. ... Also on hand at the celebration was Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, who used the occasion to accuse the U.S. and our allies of threatening "all life on the planet." Chavez praised Mugabe's policies, and said Venezuela was enacting similar "reforms." Mugabe and Chavez were photographed embracing happily, like the two birds of a feather they are.