Free Republic

Charles H. Percy, a brilliant businessman who represented Illinois for nearly 20 years in the U.S. Senate, once headed the chamber’s powerful Foreign Relations Committee, and harbored unrealized ambitions to run for the presidency, died early Saturday. He was 91. Percy died at 2:30 a.m. Eastern time at a Washington D.C. hospice, according to Kate Kelly, a spokeswoman with WETA, the public broadcasting station in Washington D.C., where Percy's daughter, Sharon Rockefeller is president and CEO. Percy, a moderate Republican, entered the Senate in 1966 after defeating one liberal icon, the late Paul Douglas. But he was ousted by the...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Sharon Percy Rockefeller, president of WETA public television in Washington and former board chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, has been diagnosed with colorectal cancer, her husband, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, said Monday. Rockefeller said his 60-year-old wife will be undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment for the next three months. "Sharon is a fighter, and I know she's going to beat this," Jay Rockefeller said in a statement. "She is a strong and loving person, and we are fortunate to be surrounded by so many supportive friends and relatives." Sharon Rockefeller has served as president and...

Around 50 retired US diplomats have written to US President George Bush to complain about America's policy towards the Middle East. The letter is similar to one written by 52 former British diplomats to UK Prime Minister Tony Blair last week. The former US diplomats complained that President Bush's approach is losing the US "credibility, prestige and friends". They criticised what they say is Washington's unabashed support for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The American diplomats said they were deeply concerned by Mr Bush's endorsement last month of Mr Sharon's plan to withdraw unilaterally from Gaza. 'Great danger' They were...