Free Republic

The Vatican has reversed the annulment of former US Congressman Joseph P Kennedy II's first marriage, his ex-wife Sheila Rauch says. They were divorced in 1991 and Mr Kennedy obtained the annulment in secret in 1993, before he married his secretary Anne Elizabeth Kelly. Ms Rauch had alleged that the Kennedy family had used its influence in the church to obtain the annulment. Mr Kennedy is the nephew of President John F Kennedy, assassinated in 1963. His father, Robert Kennedy, was in turn murdered in 1968 as he campaigned for the Democratic Party's nomination for presidential candidate. "The annulment decision...

Rice signs US-Romania bases deal The deal marks a major shift in US strategy in Europe US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has signed a deal allowing the US to use military bases in Romania. It is the first such deal to be signed with a former communist country in eastern Europe. Ms Rice arrived in Romania from Germany, on the second leg of a European tour overshadowed by a controversy about CIA operations. She stressed that the US does not carry out or condone torture, but did not comment on alleged secret CIA prisons. She has defended the CIA...

Cynthia Piccione could barely look at her son, a once-strapping Marine lying helpless in a bed from a grenade wound to his head. Lance Cpl. Raymond Preston Warren, 23, couldn't move. Couldn't talk. Couldn't speak. But there was Mom -- from a world far away. "He was like a pumpkin head. His face was so swollen you couldn't see his features," recalled Piccione, 41, of Northridge, of her visit to see her son at a naval hospital in June. "I said, 'It's Mom, it's Mom.' "And a tear came from his eyes as he squeezed my hand." Warren is one...

Federal prosecutors announced Thursday they have indicted Pete Seda, the head of the Ashland branch of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, on fraud and tax charges. Seda, also known as Pirouz Sedaghaty and Abu Yunus, and another officer of the foundation, Soliman Hamd Al-Buthe, are part of a three-count indictment for illegally transporting $150,000 to Saudi Arabia. The indictment, filed in U.S. District Court in Eugene, charges them with conspiracy to defraud the United States, filing a false IRS return for a tax-exempt corporation and failure to file a report of international transportation of currency. Known locally as a peace activist,...

DENVER — Hell House, the controversial morality play first staged at a suburban church for Halloween, is set to be spoofed in a new stage production in Los Angeles starting Aug. 28. With Bill Maher playing Satan and Andy Richter as Jesus, the production will use the original play's script and special effects "to lampoon (Christian) fundamentalist beliefs about hell," producer Maggie Rowe said Monday. "It will be a parody of itself. It will be very funny. We're having a hoot," said Rowe, who represents the Center for Inquiry-West, which says it promotes and defends reason and science. The original...

Farmers say Mexico must withdraw from the treaty Thousands of farmers have gathered in the Mexican capital to demand their government renegotiate a regional trade pact, which they say is destroying their livelihoods. A big mistake was made in the phasing out of tariffs for imports. Farmers are worse off now than before NAFTA was signed Rafael Galindo, farmers leader The farmers say the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) has led to a flood of cheaper imports from the United States and Canada - the two other members of the treaty. They say a treaty clause - which...

US polygamist convicted of child rape An avowed polygamist who practically dared prosecutors to go after him was convicted of child rape for impregnating a 13-year-old who later became his wife. District Judge Donald Eyre took just 30 minutes to convict Tom Green for his relationship with Linda Kunz, who is now his legal wife. Green's non-jury trial lasted about an hour. Green has appeared on TV talk shows, including the Sally Jessy Raphael Show, to talk about his many wives. Prosecutors submitted Kunz's testimony from previous hearings, as well as her 1973 birth certificate and the 1986 birth certificate...