Free Republic

Russia urged Israel on Monday to reconsider plans to expand Jewish settlements on occupied land after Palestinians won de facto U.N. recognition of statehood, saying building new homes would undermine any chance for direct peace talks. In a statement issued a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brushed off condemnation from the United States and European nations, Russia also criticized Israel's announcement it was withholding Palestinian tax revenues. Russia "views these Israeli intentions with the most serious concern", the Foreign Ministry statement said. "Implementation of the announced plans for large-scale settlement activity would have a very negative effect on...

CHICAGO -- This week, a series of public forums on a program requiring all pregnant women and children through age 18 years to be tested for mental health needs is being held this week in five different locations statewide. One group of parents learned about the state's plans to proceed with this program and on Monday issued an alarm asking for parents and citizens concerned about the new program to voice their opinions at the forums. "We're moving toward social training over academic training with this program," Larry Trainor, a Mt. Prospect parent of four children and a contact for...

SEATTLE - Mary Kay Letourneau and her former sixth-grade pupil — the father of her two youngest children — will be married Friday night, "Entertainment Tonight" and "The Insider" reported Thursday. Tents were being set up Thursday afternoon for the ceremony in a secluded spot in King County, according to the television programs, which obtained exclusive rights to cover the event. A rehearsal dinner for bridesmaids, groomsmen and relatives was planned Thursday. Letourneau, now 43, served 7 1/2 years in prison after she was convicted of raping Vili Fualaau, now 22. She was released last August. The couple first met...

All signs point to yes. During the past several months, the image has flickered into our homes with increasing regularity: Following the end of a campaign-trail speech, little Emma Claire Edwards, 6, and Jack Edwards, 4—both blond and cherubic—joyfully run up to the stage where their dad, Sen. John Edwards, 51, scoops them into his arms. Standing nearby beaming, always, is Elizabeth Edwards, 55. Do the math, and it's not hard to figure out that Edwards gave birth to Emma Claire at age 48 and Jack at 50. And yet if Edwards used her own eggs, this is all but...