Free Republic

President Barack Obama will host King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia at the White House next week for his first trip to Washington since ascending the throne. The visit, scheduled for September 4, comes just before Congress is scheduled to vote on the Iran deal, which Saudi Arabia has endorsed but expressed concern over.

SNIPPET: "WASHINGTON — A US man has been charged after he compiled a hit list of 15 people he believed had harmed Muslim civilians and deserved to die, court documents showed Wednesday. Paul Rockwood and his wife Nadia were charged with lying to federal investigators about the compilation and content of the list, which Nadia Rockwood delivered to an unnamed individual in April at her husband's request." SNIPPET: "According to plea agreement documents obtained by AFP Wednesday, Paul Rockwood converted to Islam around late 2001 and soon "became a strict adherent to the violent jihad-promoting ideology of cleric Anwar al-Awlaki."...

Group wants to rescue chinook salmon from Alaskans' steely hooks The world's largest animal-rights group asked Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski on Friday to declare king salmon, the state fish, off-limits to fishing. "We ought to protect king salmon in a manner appropriate to a state symbol - ensuring that they don't suffer needlessly at the hands of anglers," wrote Karin Robertson, project manager for the Norfolk, Va.-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' (PETA) Fish Empathy Project, in a letter faxed to the governor. Robertson said fishing should be stopped because recent scientific research indicates that fish have acute...

JUNEAU--An animal rights advocacy group is asking Gov. Frank Murkowski to make it illegal to catch and eat king salmon, Alaska's state fish. The group known as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent the request to Murkowski on Friday, saying fish are intelligent and feel pain. "Fishing is an archaic and cruel way to spend time," said Karin Robertson, manager of the PETA Fish Empathy Project. "We feel that it's only a matter of time before people consider it cruelty." Murkowski spokeswoman Becky Hultberg called the request "typical PETA propaganda." Hultberg said the request addressed Murkowski as the...