Free Republic

THE Returned Services League has called for military personnel and veterans carry to be allowed to carry their medals with them on commercial flights. RSL national president Major General Bill Crews said he knew of at least one incident in which a veteran was told by airport security he could not bring medals on board an aircraft because of the security risk. Maj-Gen Crews said airports should show more trust. "Airport security and the government in particular should recognise that people carrying medals are those whose own service is distinguished by those medals and who have the trust of the...

The days of N.H.L. teams signing players off Russian clubs’ rosters are about to officially end, thanks to Vladimir V. Putin. As Russians prepared to go to the polls for last weekend’s presidential election, Putin signed a labor law that tied athletes to their clubs for the length of their contracts — putting Russian contract law in line with similar laws in North America and Europe. Under the previous Russian law, all a player needed to get out of a contract was to give his club 14 days’ notice that he was leaving. That clause enabled N.H.L. teams to swoop...

A TEENAGER who burnt an Australian flag taken from an RSL club during Sydney's racial unrest will come face to face with club members as part of his punishment. The 17-year-old pleaded guilty to removing the flag from the Brighton-Le-Sands RSL club and burning it in a reprisal attack following the Cronulla riot on December 11 last year. In Bidura Children's Court today, the teenager from Hurstville, who cannot be named, was ordered into youth conferencing with the club. He is expected to meet with diggers to discuss how the crime affected them and what the flag means to war...

DENVER -- Kobe Bryant's attorneys abruptly dropped a bid to permanently seal evidence in the NBA star's rape case Monday, saying details will be leaked anyway and releasing everything would reveal just how unprofessional the prosecution really was. In a scathing court filing, defense attorney Pamela Mackey accused law enforcement officers and prosecutors of "unlawful or improper conduct" throughout the case, including the suppression of evidence suggesting Bryant was innocent. She said still-sealed Eagle County records include material "highly damaging to the prosecution" because they back Bryant's claim that he had consensual sex with a Vail-area resort employee last year....

EAGLE, Colo. — Multi-colored scribble clutters most of the white chalkboard calendar in the local sheriff's office. But only two words cover the last few days of August and the entire month of September. Eagle County cops aren't the only ones clearing their plates for the culmination of the sexual assault case against Kobe Bryant. Lawyers have spent 14 months battling over evidence. Nearly 1,000 county residents have been asked to report Friday for jury duty. And after weeks of indecisiveness by Bryant's accuser, there now are strong indications that she is prepared to testify, which is essential to the...

Court TV reporting that the accuser has today filed a lawsuit against Kobe Bryant in FEDERAL court.