Free Republic

İstanbul MP of the Republican People's Party (CHP) Eren Erdem, who was not nominated as MP candidate at the 27th term presidential election on June 24 and was taken into custody in Ankara today (June 29), was referred to the İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan.Erdem, who was taken to İstanbul early this morning, appeared before judge at the İstanbul 35th Heavy Penal Court. At the hearing of Erdem, which was also watched by several MPs of the CHP, the attorney Onur Cıngıl made his defence regarding the case.Eren Erdem was arrested after the defence of his attorney."I am being tried due...

Local police agencies empowered by the federal government to enforce immigration law must focus their efforts on criminals who pose a threat to public safety, with less emphasis on those who commit minor crimes, Department of Homeland Security officials announced Friday. The announcement aims to clarify a controversial program that deputizes police to turn over suspects or criminals to immigration authorities for possible deportation. Normally police do not enforce federal law. The law, known as 287(g), took effect in 1996. Most of the participating police agencies signed up under President George W. Bush, whose administration promoted it as a tool...

Proposal Would Have Doors Swing Out, Not In BOSTON -- If Bellingham resident Douglas Flavin has his way, all public bathroom doors in Massachusetts will open outward, not inward. The Legislature's Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight reviewed the bill Wednesday. State Rep. James Vallee (D-Franklin) filed the bill on Flavin's behalf. Survey: What Do You Think? "[Think] how easy it would be to prevent germs and disease," Flavin's wife Tracy told BostonNow. "If state residents could open bathroom doors with a knee or elbow instead of a handle." Flavin also claimed it would prevent litter resulting from people...

More than a decade after promising to end the practice, the University of California has given several top administrators lengthy paid leaves when they stepped down. In the past 13 months alone, at least three senior managers have received paid furloughs at their executive salaries before returning to teaching. Former UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Berdahl received a 13 1/2-month leave at $315,600 a year. Former Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Directory Charles Shank is finishing a yearlong leave, during which he has earned $336,000. And Wednesday, UC said former Provost M.R.C. Greenwood had begun a 15-month leave with a $301,840 annual...

Sunni Clerics Urge Followers to Join Iraq Army and Police By ROBERT F. WORTH AGHDAD, Iraq, April 1 - A group of Sunni Arab clerics, including some hard-line figures who fiercely oppose the American presence here, issued a statement on Friday urging their fellow Sunni Arabs to join the Iraqi Army and police. The edict, signed by 64 imams and religious scholars, was a striking turnaround for the clerics, who have often lashed out in sermons at the fledgling army and police force and branded them collaborators. Prominently missing from the signers was Harith al-Dari, the leader of the Association...