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As hard as it may be to believe, these adorable pups have been abandoned and are on the lookout for new owners. The eight-week old Jack Russell crosses, with their sad puppy dog eyes, are among a record 16 puppies in only five days taken into one Welsh rescue centre. ‘They are really cheeky, playful little things, so I’m hopeful we should be able to find good homes for them,’ said Nicky Owen from North Clwyd Animal Rescue. . . .

Police located, Sunday, 15-year-old Nofer Ben-Chamou of Lod, in a village of the Arab Triangle, northeast of Tel Aviv. She had been missing for weeks after getting involved with Arab boys. Member of Knesset Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) and members of the Lehava organization, which helps families deal with such situations, were in constant contact with the family during the time Nofer was missing. They joined the family at the police station where Nofer was brought with instructions on how to deal with her rehabilitation. Lehava praised the police for their work and called on authorities to do something about...

Obama Pulls The Trigger On The January Surprise James Pethokoukis, American Enterprise Institute Jan. 25, 2012 I told you so. This was the housing policy bombshell from President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address: And while Government can’t fix the problem on its own, responsible homeowners shouldn’t have to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom to get some relief. That’s why I’m sending this Congress a plan that gives every responsible homeowner the chance to save about $3,000 a year on their mortgage, by refinancing at historically low interest rates. No more red tape. No...

A U.S. special operations team of Navy SEALs rescued two aid workers in Somalia Tuesday night, including a U.S. woman who had been held hostage for three months by Somali kidnappers and suffered from a life-threatening medical condition. Jessica Buchanan, 32, of Bedford, Va., and Poul Hagen Thisted, 60, of Denmark, were abducted Oct. 25 by a band of Somalis while on their way to the airport in Galcayo, located in central Somalia. Both were working for the Danish Refugee Council's Danish Demining Group, and had just finished a training course for local Somali citizens when they were abducted. In...

It's little wonder that with such cute faces peering out over the edge of their plastic bowl, these eight abandoned puppies have found new homes. But their futures could have been a lot bleaker. The puppies and their mother, a mongrel named Amy, had been found by a farmer stuffed inside a bale of hay on his land in Newark. But now, following an appeal by local newspaper the Lincolnshire Echo, the eight six-week old puppies have found caring owners ... The mother was discovered with a rope tied around her neck which she had bitten through. ...

For the third time this month, the U.S. Navy has come to the rescue of distressed Iranian fishermen -- at the same time Iran has threatened to disrupt a key oil route off its coast. Guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey rendered aid to the crew of a sinking Iranian fishing dhow in the central Arabian Sea, according to a Navy press release. A helicopter from the Maritime Strike Squadron 71 spotted the fishing boat Wednesday morning reportedly with one person on board. "Our first priority was to make sure that all of the crew (of the fishing vessel) was safe," Lt....

Crammed into tiny cages, unable to stand and deprived of food and water, these dogs endured terrible suffering on a truck bound for a chain of restaurants. The harrowing pictures show the cruel conditions in which 1,500 of the animals were found when the truck was stopped at a toll gate by highway police and animal rescue volunteers in Chongqing, south-west China. ... The animals were moved to a nearby farm by volunteers from the Chongqing Animal Protection Association who gave them food, water and emergency treatment. ...

t was every man – and crew member – for himself. Survivors from the Costa Concordia spoke angrily yesterday of the nightmare evacuation from the stricken ship as women and children were left behind. In the terrifying moments after the giant vessel began to list, fights even broke out to get into the lifeboats. Men refused to prioritise women, expectant mothers and children as they pushed themselves forward to escape. Crew ignored their passengers – leaving ‘chefs and waiters’ to help out.

SARASOTA, Fla. (CBS TAMPA) – A man fishing from his kayak a half-mile from Point of Rocks off Sarasota was shocked when a dog that was involved in a deadly DUI crash swam up to his boat terrified. Once pulled to safety, Barney shrunk into a corner of the small craft, shaking and traumatized over the event. He sustained minor injuries, including one to his paw and several cuts. The man brought Barney to a local vet, who used a tracking chip implanted in him to discover his owner was Donna L. Chen, who was struck by a Nissan Altima...

It may sound barking mad but hardened criminals are discovering what softies they are by caring for pooches 24 hours a day. Forget the usual prison image of chain gangs and razor wire, tough U.S. jailbirds are each being handed a helpless pup to care for in their cells night and day. In two years, 468 rescue dogs have been placed with families after being trained by inmates in the Missouri Department of Corrections' 'Puppies for Parole' programme. They teach the dogs, which come from local animal shelters, how to behave and prepare them for adoption - helping their own...

You know the “reasonable, common sense” crowd’s litany, the one about guns only being good for one thing? Namely, killing, death and wanton destruction? Yeah, well, next time one of them throws that one at you at a cocktail party, here’s a handy comeback example to keep in your quiver. If Chris Willden hadn’t had his gun on his hip yesterday, there would probably be two or three dead kids in Logan, Utah… Roger Anderson was headed for a day of skiing with three kiddies in tow. But he lost control of his car on a slippery, narrow bridge and...

People often criticize the media for what they perceive to be an obsession with bad news; That sort of “if it bleeds it leads” credo that keeps many viewers away from their 6′oclock’s because “it’s just going to make me angry.” We’ve all heard it. So here’s a piece of good and uplifting news for you: This past Saturday while we were all getting fabulous for our New Years Eve shenanigans, former police officer Chris Willden came upon an accident along the U.S. 89 in Logan Canyon, Utah where a Honda Accord had slid off the road and plummeted into...

As many as 10 heroic people jumped into an icy Utah river to help save three trapped children after a car plunged down a 10-foot embankment and flipped over. The rescuers helped turn the Honda Accord upright in the Logan River, and one man shot out the car’s window with a handgun and cut a seat belt to help free the children after Saturday afternoon accident, patrol Lt. Steve Winward said. The driver, Roger Andersen, 46, of Logan, lost control as he tried to brake while heading northbound on U.S. 89 during slick conditions. His 9-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son...

Violet, the red-tailed hawk whose intimate family life in a nest overlooking Washington Square Park was chronicled on a live-streaming webcam, delighting more than a million viewers with the sacred spectacle of nature, died on Thursday. She was believed to be about 5 years old. A metal wildlife band that had been placed on her leg in 2006 and was wedged awkwardly on her shin appeared to exacerbate the situation. Wildlife experts and veterinarians were summoned by the university and the state to determine if it was possible to lure her away from the nest and treat her leg, but...

In a reversal of fortunes, a once-unwanted cat has come to the rescue of an animal shelter in need of a new home. However, this orange-and-white tabby named Daniel is no typical cat. He has a near-record 26 toes, a phenomenon that is helping the Milwaukee Animal Rescue Center in Wisconsin raise money to relocate to a new building. ... 'I've always been a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and this is definitely the case,' said Amy Rowell, owner of Milwaukee Animal Rescue Center in Greendale. She found Daniel in October at animal control when she went...

RESCUE It happened in an instant. I dropped my canoe paddle in the lake and as it started to float away, I instinctively reached over the side of the canoe to grab it. Bad move. In the blink of an eye I was dumped into the middle of Nuttings Lake in December with no life jacket. As I struggled to right my canoe and retrieve fishing rods and tackle boxes, the numbing cold water brought me to a stark reality. The clock was ticking. I had little time. I had to make decisions fast. My first thought was to un-swamp...

A grieving family fulfilled their soldier son's final wish of rescuing the dog he befriended in Afghanistan just months before he was killed. The parents of paratrooper Conrad Lewis wept with joy as they greeted their son's best friend Peg who bounded up to them after completing six months in quarantine. Before his death Conrad adopted the dog and nicknamed her Peg - short for Pegasus - in honour of the Para's winged horse emblem. ... He fed the dog his rations and she never left his side, even accompanying him during fierce fire fights against Taliban insurgents. Conrad wanted...

RESCUERS spent 12 hours trying to save a “pregnant cat” from a clothes recycling bin – only to discover it was a squeaky toy. The alarm was raised on Monday evening when a woman heard a miaow sound coming from the recycling bins in Moelfre, Anglesey. With a heavily pregnant cat Puss-Puss missing in the village people raced down to the clothes bin to free the animal which continued to miaow. But the locks had been tampered with and they were unable to free the “cat” despite trying until 11pm at night with a grinder and calling in the fire...

Hero is no ordinary New Hampshire dog. Hers is a tale that began in war-torn Samarra, Iraq, in early 2007. Justin Rollins, of 82nd Airborne Division, had found the tiny puppy, one of a litter of eight, living underneath an abandoned portable toilet near his base. Smiling and enjoying the company of the young litter, he and his team-mates took some photos to send home. Just hours later, Justin was killed by an IED. The happy pictures he had taken and emailed home that night were the last contact he'd have with his girlfriend and family - but the start...

A young girl’s tears of joy were captured on camera by her parents as they surprised her with the family’s pet dog she thought she’d never see again. Alyssa Smith’s parents, from Hampshire, paid £1,300 to be reunited with their dog Holly, who they had to leave behind when they moved back to the UK from Dubai. Darren Smith and his family adopted former street dog Holly two years ago while living in the United Arab Emirates. ... Two months after relocating to Hampshire, Mr Smith, who thought Holly had been re-homed with another family, saw their dog on a...

ECRI Recession Watch: Decline In Growth Index Continues To Moderate By Doug Short November 18, 2011 The Weekly Leading Index (WLI) growth indicator of the Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI) posted -7.9 in its latest reading, data through November 11. The latest public data point is less negative than last week's -8.5 and continues the trend off its interim low of -10.1 on October 14. Last week I posted the November 7th CNBC interview with Lakshman Achuthan, the Co-founder of ECRI. I'm again including video because ECRI continues to feature it on their website here, which I see as evidence...

They bonded in the heat of battle in war-torn Afghanistan. And these heart-warming pictures show how the stray dogs who helped soldiers through their toughest times are being thanked - with a new loving home. US soldiers regularly make best friends with loyal Afghan dogs, who are invaluable companions on the front line and provide relief after days of brave and exhausting fire fights. And now these lucky pets have been reunited with the servicemen who befriended them with while on duty. ... British charity Nowzad Dogs, which was started by former British Royal Marine Pen Farthing, who served in...

When they met on a Caribbean beach it was love at first sight - and when the holiday was over, nothing was going to keep them apart. And finally Weber the black Labrador cross has been reunited with her loving new owners, 4,000 miles from his old home. Paul Booth, 43, and wife Lorraine, 36, rescued the dog after spotting her wandering across a beach in Antigua as it hunted for scraps. They decided to adopt the malnourished animal and give her a permanent home back in Britain. ... Now after paying £2,000 and waiting for vet checks to be...

ASTORIA, Ore. -- A Coast Guardsman was being honored as a hero Monday for his efforts in saving a woman from drowning in the Columbia River in September. Petty Officer 2nd Class Leon Doniphan, a cook aboard Cutter Alert in Astoria, had just finished his shift on Sept. 10 and was heading on to the pier when he noticed some commotion on the river's edge. It turned out, a young girl about 11- or 12-years-old, who had been swimming around the pilings under the dock, got caught in the river's current. Moments later, it was apparent she was about to...

A frightened black Labrador puppy was dramatically rescued from the top of a double-decker freight train car by four firefighters, who then delivered her to a new, loving home. No one knows how the puppy, who appears to be about three months old, ended up on top of the Norfolk Southern train that left Pennsylvania, and had already gone through Virginia and North Carolina on its way to Atlanta. ... Rowland's team of firefighters was called on Sunday evening after Tina Parker of nearby Pickens spotted the pup while she and her family were stopped at a red light and...

Back wagging his tail and barking happily again, this is the dog that was incredibly saved by 'mouth-to-snout' after he became trapped in a burning house. Firefighters in Wisconsin went beyond the call of duty to give the kiss of life to Labrador Coda, after rescuing the dog from the burning house.. . . All ends well in this rescue, as Mocha and Lavender [family cats]were found in the basement unharmed, presumably scampering down there to avoid danger.

Slovakia's parliament has ratified a plan to bolster a eurozone rescue fund, just two days after MPs rejected it. The vote came after the government and opposition agreed to hold snap elections next year. The decision means all 17 eurozone states have now approved the plan to tackle the eurozone debt crisis.

(10-08) 09:50 PDT Fresno, Calif. (AP) -- Armando Castillo knew he should not attempt the last treacherous stretch up Half Dome with storm clouds looming. But he felt he had come too far not to accomplish his goal. Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/10/08/national/a080120D12.DTL#ixzz1aEwT4OCr

The selfless actions of two good Samaritans saved the life of a British man attacked by a Great White shark off Cape Town this week. Michael Cohen was swimming in the water at Fish Hoek even though the beach had been closed to swimmers following shark sightings. The shark bit off Mr Cohen’s right leg but he survived the attack thanks to the quick thinking of Hugh Till and Douglas Drysdale, who were passing by at the time and had stopped their car to warn him of the approaching shark. “A seal was swimming close by during the entire episode....

Had to post this upbeat rescue story. Good Samaritans saved a life!

The U.S. is coming to Europe's financial rescue. So far, America's role is fairly limited. But if the crisis continues to grow and the U.S. takes on a wider role, U.S. consumers and taxpayers could feel a bigger impact. The biggest exposure could come from America's status as the single largest source of money for the International Monetary Fund. The latest round of American financial assistance came Thursday with a promise by the Federal Reserve to swap as many dollars for euros as European bankers need. In the short run, those transactions won't have much impact because the central banks...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke personally three times during the night to the security guards trapped in the besieged Israeli Embassy, in Cairo with only a metal door separating them from the mob that had destroyed the building's security barrier and managed to climb up to a waiting room. Channel 10 reported that one of those holed up in the building, the chief security officer in the embassy, had asked the prime minister to be sure that if the incident ends badly, his parents are informed in person and not by telephone. "You are an exceptional human being", answered Netanyahu....

Noya Deats' routine walk along the Roza Canal turned disastrous Wednesday when her two dogs, Fawn and Nia, decided to take a swim. ... But once in the water, neither dog could get out because of the swift current. Unsure what to do, Deats ran alongside the canal to keep up with them while she called her husband, Matt, and the police. ... After watching the deputy struggle to rope the dogs, he [farm laborer Jesus Villanueva] took the lasso and said: "Let me see." ... Seconds later, he lassoed each dog in rapid succession, pulling them to safety.

A family escaped from a burning home Friday thanks to an alert passerby and a pet poodle. ... Firefighters arrived and went in the home to start a search, at which point they were met by the family pet, a poodle named Ted. Ted started barking at the firefighters and then ran down the stairs.

An area police officer has received a commendation for meritorious duty after he saved the life of a Belle Vernon woman last month. Southwest Regional police Chief John D. Hartman said Lt. John Loughner received the commendation for saving a 50-year-old Belle Vernon woman at her Main Street residence. According to Hartman, Loughner responded to a call shortly after 8 p.m. July 10 to check on the well being of the woman at her Main Street home. When he arrived, Hartman said Loughner heard moaning and gurgling sounds coming from inside her residence but the door was locked. Fearing for...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The pair of 911 calls came in quick succession from a New Mexico mobile home park. On one, a frantic 12-year-old says her little sister is missing. On the other is the wife of the man who would be credited with saving the 6-year-old from every parent's nightmare. "We are outside of my mom's house here," Martha Diaz told the dispatcher. "We heard a man going, `Hey, hey let her go. Let her go.' So we turn around ... "The man came running to us and said, `They stole a little girl.'" Phillip Garcia, 29, had...

He was scared, but the 12-year-old Boy Scout still knew what to do when he got lost during a Utah wilderness outing: He built a shelter made of tree branches and wood to get through a cold night and he covered himself in dirt to stay warm...

There are many here on Free Republic that absolutely love our "Fru-babies". We post pics and follow each other, well I thought it would be terrific if we post the pictures of our 'babies'. I don't know about you all but mine 'get me through' these nightmarish days. They love me no matter what. They are there and want to be with me no matter what. That includes the way I now look in the mornings! LOL! Show YOUR babies here... :) Here are a few of mine both past and present...

Flipping amazing... the moment a humpback whale 'thanks' rescuers who saved it from dying tangled in fishing nets A humpback whale which was freed from almost certain death by three men off the coast of California repaid the favour to its rescuers with a breathtaking display of breaches and dives. The amazing hour-long performance was caught on camera moments after the creature was cut free from fishing nets. When the boat came across the whale it was trapped with its tail and flippers hopelessly entangled in the nets. (photos & Video at link)

Medford, Ore. (AP) -- Rangers and others at Crater Lake National Park spent about six hours rescuing a New York man who slid 300 feet into the remains of a volcano that forms the nation's deepest and clearest lake. Authorities describe the man as 27, from New York, and say his injuries were serious. He wasn't identified. Witnesses said he was with friends Monday, went beyond a barrier onto a snow bank at an overlook, fell headfirst and slid partway down the 700-foot wall toward the lake.

...Despite being outweighed by nearly 100 pounds, he pulled the older teen to safety, authorities said....

An apparently suicidal man waded into San Francisco Bay on Monday, stood up to his neck, and waited. As the man drowned, police, fire crews, and others watched idly from the shore. Why? Officials blamed a departmental policy, stemming from budget cuts, that prevented them from jumping in to save him. Fifty-year-old Raymond Zack spent nearly an hour in the water before drowning. A crowd of about 75 people, in addition to first responders, watched from the beach in Alameda across the bay from San Francisco as Zack inched farther and farther away, sometimes glancing back, a witness told the...

All of these dogs were rescued from being shot by the local reservation Animal Control(FWP) in Montana, so they are safe now. I am trying to help Rene and Anita find foster homes or even better yet forever homes for them. There are lots of puppies not pictured yet as they have a small "cough" that Rene wants a vet to take a look at first. Once she gets an OK from the vet, they will either be transferred to another rescue or to permanent homes if possible. The ones that say pregnant females on them have places to go...

O'FALLON, Mo. -- A mama dog in eastern Missouri adopted an orphaned baby raccoon as her own after losing a puppy in labor. "We saved her life, and she saved the raccoon's life," said Sharon Maag of the St. Peters rescue group, SNUGGLE, Special Needs Under Gentle Guided Love Everyday. "I think what goes around comes around. It's the circle of life. I think that's the way it goes. She's just returning the favor." Sasha the dog was likely headed for euthanization after being surrendered to a shelter with what appeared to be a large lump. The group SNUGGLE rescued...

Early in my dog's training, I began to look for more people who could help us by laying trails for Trooper. Unique to search and rescue, the dogs need people to find when they train. Simple scent articles, like a glove or a hat left at the end of the trail, won't cut it for us. The ultimate result for an operational dog is to find someone who is lost...

Two Clarksville police officers proved to be ‘very important persons’ when they responded to an early 911 call Wednesday at 12:52 A.M. A mother had called the 911 Center to report she and her two children were trapped in their mobile home because two large trees had fell on their 1946 Batts Lane home. Officers David Johnson and John Matos arrived at the home site to find two trees had fallen through the roof of the mobile home. Entering the home the officers found Sarah Kline, who had called the 911 Center, and her two children trapped inside. The collapsed...

AP link only: http://enews.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20110404/79206ea9-175d-4cbc-a7d7-ef0c521df8da

(Associated Press Writers Eric Talmadge in Fukushima and Ryan Nakashima, Shino Yuasa, Mayumi Saito, Noriko Kitano and Cara Rubinsky in Tokyo contributed to this report.) SENDAI, Japan — Japanese and U.S. military ships and helicopters trolled Japan’s tsunami-ravaged coastline looking for bodies Friday, part of an all-out search that could be the last chance to find those swept out to sea nearly three weeks ago. More than 16,000 are still missing after the disaster, which officials fear may have killed some 25,000 people. ...On the outskirts of Sendai, near the Japanese military’s Kasuminome air base, a constant stream of helicopters...

The Khan Academy has its roots in a series of educational YouTube videos that founder Sal Khan began making several years ago to tutor his cousin. The videos struck a chord among those who came across them, Sinha said. As the videos became increasingly popular, the organization got a big break last fall, when it received a total of about $3.5 million in grants from Google and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The nonprofit Advertisement now has a Mountain View office and a half-dozen staff members. It's still attracting attention -- NBC Nightly News recently featured the program and...

Two US airmen have been rescued after ejecting from their F-15E Eagle warplane just before it crashed during allied operations in eastern Libya. The plane appeared to suffer mechanical failure near the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, the US military said. It came down after a third night of US-led coalition attacks on Col Muammar Gaddafi's forces, aimed at enforcing a UN resolution to protect civilians. Debate is continuing in the coalition over who should take command.