Free Republic

Saudi Arabia firmly rejected Iran’s criticism of its handling of the Haj pilgrimage Saturday after Tehran demanded an inquiry into the Mina stampede. “I believe the Iranians should know better than to play politics with a tragedy that has befallen people who were performing their most sacred religious duty,” Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said, according to AFP. Al-Jubeir, delivering remarks along US Secretary of State John Kerry, insisted that Saudi Arabia was on top of the situation. “The Kingdom has had a long history of spending tremendous resources to care for the pilgrimage to ensure that the pilgrims who come...

A man who fled from the scene of a report fight in the Fallbrook area later tried to twist a K-9's neck in an effort to escape arrest, San Diego Sheriff's Lieutenant Dave Schaller said. The incident began early Sunday when deputies from Fallbrook responded to reports of a possible fight that may have been related to road rage. The caller told deputies a gun may have been fired and people were fighting. When Deputy Jeremy Banks arrived at the scene, he saw a silver Mitsubishi Galant driving away with its lights off. When he tried to stop the car,...

A Ramona woman's non-profit brings comfort through the companionship of mini horsesOn a recent sweltering September afternoon, Melissa Sargent stood by her father's bedside. The back bedroom in Alex Morgan's Lakeside home resembled a hospital room and was filled with the low hum of several fans keeping him cool. As dad and daughter chatted, his hand rested on the mane of a gentle mini horse named Tori. The gray animal stood motionless, wearing a red and white polka dot bow on her head, and custom-made pink floral booties and a saddle blanket. "Should have brought her a biscuit," Morgan joked....

An adorable video shows a boy hitting the baseball in his Little League game — and then stopping at first base to tell his coach, who is also his dad, “I love you.” “Hey,” the boy said. “I have to tell you something. I like you. I love you.” After a quick hug, the boy took off for second base.

Homophobic slurs were reportedly used during a student rap battle Friday night at the University of Oklahoma. An OU student organization, Queer Inclusion on Campus, posted about the incidents on social media, saying they would “address the situation.” “We are dismayed at the words OU students chose to utilize at the expense of students who identify as LGBTQ,” the organization said. “We have been told that these unacceptable actions were also accompanied by sexist and body shaming rhetoric, which is also inappropriate.” QuIC spokesperson Alex Ruggiers said he didn’t know how to describe his emotions after hearing the slurs were...

An Indiana man tested the strength of his nerves last week when he popped the question to his girlfriend on a roller coaster just before the train cars took a plunge down a steep hill. The moment between Austin Crecelius and his now fiancee Allison Boyle was all caught on camera by a friend of Crecelius' who filmed it from the seat in front of them using a GoPro. The group was riding "The Voyage" roller coaster at Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana. Crecelius used a roller coaster metaphor to lead up to the proposal, but he says Boyle...

Tight security, Bolllywood beats and protests set the scene for Indian Prime Minister Narrendra Modi's visit to the Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park Sunday. Modi, who received a rockstar welcome by the Indian community when he landed in Silicon Valley Saturday is in California to meet with tech leaders to talk about his vision for a digital India. An avid social media user, he has more than 14 million followers on Twitter and urged people to send him questions for the town hall on Facebook. "We received more than 40,000 comments for this town gall, that's pretty incredible," Zuckerberg said...

A San Jose family was able to identify the man who stole their cat from surveillance camera footage, but they need help finding him. Miroslav Petro & Miriam Petrova were devastated when their 17-year-old cat “Gogo” was stolen from their front yard on Monday. Thanks to their surveillance camera, the family has footage of a thief capturing the cat. Due to the low quality of the video the owners have a very vague description of the thief. A police report was filed and the owners are asking the public to help find the cat and thief.

Sheriff's deputies are seeking suspects in connection with a burglary, after an 83-year-old Saratoga woman reported a box filled with her late husband's ashes missing Friday. Around 11:35 a.m., deputies responded to the 10000 block of Howen Drive for a report of an interrupted burglary, according to sheriff's officials. When deputies arrived, deputies learned the victim had arrived home and saw two young men running away from the residence and get into a cream-colored four-door sedan, containing a male driver, sheriff's officials said. The vehicle was last seen driving southeast from the residence, toward Saratoga High School. When the victim...

Robert Sears, a math teacher at Hillbrook School in Los Gatos, where Loukas studied from kindergarten through eighth grade, also wrote a letter in honor of his former student. "Loukas embodies the phrase 'Still waters run deep,'" Sears wrote. "The beauty and grace he is capable of is always present, under the surface, and on his feet." The Angelo family plans to create an educational program fund in honor of Loukas. "His spirit, quiet, strong and selfless will continue in our hearts and minds forever," Edwards said.

Update: Abu-Bakr Abdur Rahman was arrested shortly before 2 a.m. today in Lumberton, the Fayetteville Police Department reported. He is being held without bail in the Cumberland County Detention Center. --- A man detained by a Cumberland County judge this summer for refusing to cover or remove Voodoo beads he wore in court is wanted for murder by the Fayetteville Police Department. Abu-Bakr Abdur Rahman, 33, was charged Friday with first-degree murder and possession with intent to sell or deliver cocaine. He is accused of fatally shooting 36-year-old Desmond Deron Smith on Sunday during a deal to sell 25 grams...

At this point, if you don’t know who Oliver C is, chances are pretty good that you’ve been living under a rock. Over the past few months, this guy has won the heart of the Internet with his awe-inspiring, fully functional, and totally badass replicas of popular Star Wars ships — and he’s showing no signs of stopping. Following up his previously shown Millennium Falcon, Tie Fighter, and Imperial Destroyer drones, he’s back with a ship we’ve all been waiting for: The iconic X-Wing fighter. Keeping with the same formula he used in his previous spacecrafts, Oliver’s X-Wing (specifically an...

German intelligence warned Tuesday that the number of Islamic extremists in the country had increased sharply in recent months and expressed serious concern that they were recruiting among refugees. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany's domestic security watchdog, said the number of radical Salafists had surged to 7,900 in September from 7,500 in June, and that many were trying to lure asylum-seekers into their ranks. "We are very concerned that Islamists in Germany are trying, under the cover of humanitarian assistance, to exploit the situation of the refugees for their own ends and to proselytise and...

The spouses of transgender people face their own dramatic transformations—only no one celebrates them.Elizabeth Miller sat in her living room with her wedding album in her lap. It had been a long while since she’d brought it up from the basement, and the brown leather cover was worn, the pages slightly yellowed. From under their plastic covering, the pictures show pink linen tablecloths and taffeta gowns and Elizabeth in a dainty white Laura Ashley dress and a flower crown, peering up at the camera with that expectant newlywed’s look — heaps of bliss, a dash of terror. Next to her...

Suspect admits repeatedly running car over victim before dousing him and his vehicle in gasoline and lighting the fire The Abu Dhabi Police (ADP) have arrested a Pakistani truck driver who is suspected of killing an investor of the same nationality in an act of revenge. The suspect, whose brother was killed six years ago in Pakistan, alleged that the victim had hired someone to kill his brother following a dispute over a plot of land. The details of the incident as narrated by Brigadier Dr. Rashid Mohammad Borshid, Head of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at the Abu...

Swiss authorities said on Friday they had temporarily banned the sale of new Volkswagen brand diesel-engine models potentially equipped with software capable of tricking environmental tests. Some 180,000 vehicles made by Volkswagen's Audi, Seat, Skoda and VW brands between 2009 and 2014 could be affected by the scandal, the Federal Roads Office said in a statement. Models equipped with diesel engines of the type 1,2TDI, 1,6TDI and 2.0TDI may be fitted with software capable of tricking environmental tests, the government agency said. It stressed that only cars designed to meet Eur05 emission standards were affected and not the Eur06 engines....

A Berlin court has ordered a cat owner to have her hairless Sphynx cat castrated – because it would be animal cruelty to let the naked pet breed. Willi, a Canadian Sphynx, belongs to Berlin cat breeder Jacqueline Linke. True to his breed, Willi is almost completely hairless – a quality that makes Sphynx cats popular choices for those with pet allergies. Despite his questionable appearance, Willi emerged as champion in the 2013 Pedigree Cat Exhibition in Berlin, and has gone on to become a proud father to three naked kittens. However, Willi won't get to pass on his genes...

Published: 26 Sep 2015 11:48 GMT+02:00 Facebook Twitter Google+ reddit German runner Florian Reus won the historic 245.3km Spartathlon race on Saturday for the first time, clocking 23 hours, 17 minutes and 31 seconds. Reus, 31, was second the last two years, and as the winner of the race he received an olive wreath and a cup of water from the Evrotas River. Finishing a surprise second was first-time course competitor Dan Lawson of the United Kingdom with the 42-year-old runner timing 23:53.32. He led for most of the race. Third in the 33rd annual Spartathlon was Denmark's 40-year-old Kim...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's popularity at home has been hit by her policy of openness towards the wave of migrants coming in from Syria and elsewhere, according to an opinion poll published on Saturday. Merkel's "strong commitment to the refugees has obviously not been met with much backing," the Der Spiegel weekly newspaper said on the poll published within its pages. Germany is expecting up to a million refugees and migrants to enter its borders this year, many encouraged by Merkel's welcoming stance. On Saturday she urged Germans to bring back the spirit of the country’s reunification in 1990 to...

A man from southern Sweden, who was accused of murdering his wife, is suing for damages after it was established that his wife was killed by an elk.The man, a resident of Loftahammer in southern Sweden, is now demanding 621,000 kronor compensation for being falsely accused of murder. His lawyers are critical of the way in which prosecutors and the police handled the investigation after the 63-year-old woman was found seriously injured near the shore of a lake outside of Loftahammar in northeast Småland in September 2008. According to the man, investigators were too quick to assume that he had...