Free Republic

At least one gunman has attacked a church in the Helwan district of southern Cairo, say reports. At least two police officers were killed in the attack, say local reports, before the gunman was himself killed by police. Another gunman may have escaped.

SAN FRANCISCO (Sept. 7) - Disgraced Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu was arrested after the Hong Kong native failed to show up for a court appearance related to a felony theft conviction.

The BBC has cancelled a plan for a Comic Relief-style day of programmes about environmental issues a week after it came under fire from two of its most senior news and current affairs executives over impartiality issues surrounding the TV special. Planet Relief would have highlighted concerns about global warming and encouraged viewers to take part in a mass "switch-off" to save energy. Ricky Gervais and Graham Norton were among the celebrities mooted to take part. However, it faced criticism from the BBC head of TV news, Peter Horrocks, and the Newsnight editor, Peter Barron, at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International...

BISMARCK, N.D. - A B-52 bomber was mistakenly loaded with five nuclear warheads during a flight from North Dakota to Louisiana, a newspaper reported Wednesday. The bomber carried advanced cruise missiles as part of a Defense Department program to retire 400 of the missiles, the Military Times said, quoting three officers who spoke on condition they remain anonymous because they were not authorized to discuss the incident. The officers said the nuclear warheads should have been removed before the missiles were mounted onto pylons under the bomber's wings for the Aug. 30 flight from Minot Air Force Base in North...

<p>Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) was involved in an altercation last night at Dulles Airport. He was allegedly angered by the amount of time it was taking to get his luggage and tried to push his way through the United Airlines baggage claim office. The release below is from The Washington Area Airports Authority.</p>

RICHMOND, Va. -- Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick accepted a plea deal Monday to avoid additional federal charges in a dogfighting case and now faces a likely lengthy prison sentence. "After consulting with his family over the weekend, Michael Vick has asked that I announce today that he has reached an agreement with federal prosecutors regarding charges pending against him," Billy Martin, one of Vick's attorneys, said in a statement. "Mr. Vick has agreed to enter a plea of guilty to those charges and to accept full responsibility for his actions and the mistakes he has made. Michael wishes to...

The US government is on a ‘burning platform’ of unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, chronic healthcare underfunding, immigration and overseas military commitments threatening a crisis if action is not taken soon, the country’s top government inspector has warned. David Walker, comptroller general of the US, issued the unusually downbeat assessment of his country’s future in a report that lays out what he called “chilling long-term simulations”. These include “dramatic” tax rises, slashed government services and the large-scale dumping by foreign governments of holdings of US debt. Drawing parallels with the end of the Roman empire, Mr Walker warned...

A Pakistani Taliban leader blew himself up to avoid arrest by government forces near the Afghan border on Tuesday, three years after his release from U.S. detention in Guantanamo Bay, officials said. Abdullah Mehsud, 31, spent over 2 years in Guantanamo. Shortly after his release in March 2004, Mehsud shot to prominence by kidnapping two Chinese engineers working in South Waziristan, a region known as a hotbed of support for al Qaeda and the Taliban. "He was killed in a house in Zhob," Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said, referring to a district of southwest Baluchistan province neighboring Waziristan....

WASHINGTON - The Iraqi government is achieving only spotty military and political progress, the Bush administration conceded Thursday in an assessment that war critics quickly seized on as confirmation of their dire warnings. Within hours, the House voted to withdraw U.S. troops by spring. The House measure passed 223-201 in the Democratic-controlled chamber despite a veto threat from President Bush, who has ruled out any change in war policy before September. "The security situation in Iraq remains complex and extremely challenging," the administration report concluded. The economic picture is uneven, it added, and the government has not yet enacted vital...

Dry cleaner wins missing pants case By LUBNA TAKRURI, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - A judge ruled Monday in favor of a dry cleaner that was sued for $54 million over a missing pair of pants. The owners of Custom Cleaners did not violate the city's consumer protection law by failing to live up to Roy L. Pearson's expectations of the "Satisfaction Guaranteed" sign once displayed in the store window, District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff ruled. "A reasonable consumer would not interpret 'Satisfaction Guaranteed' to mean that a merchant is required to satisfy a customer's unreasonable demands"...

Mexican thugs and drug smugglers intent on crossing the U.S. border illegally, have now begun to set fire to forests and fields along the border to distract U.S. Border Patrol Agents to make their crossing easier. These criminal invaders are also throwing Molotov cocktails at agents’ vehicles as well as even setting fire to their observation posts. It is only a matter of time before these terrorist attacks result in the deaths of Border Patrol Agents and American civilians alike. One night early last month in Arizona, Border Patrol Agents chased five illegals back across the Mexican border. Once on...

(A quite bizarre story about Alton Towers (an amusement park in England) and a deliciously politically incorrect (but sane!) commentary...) A couple's plans for a £5,000 wedding at Alton Towers were thrown into confusion yesterday after it emerged that the theme park had double booked them with a fun day for 20,000 Muslims. Amanda Morris, 30, and her fiance, Scott Lee, 31, have been told that if they go ahead with the ceremony they will not be allowed to go on celebratory rides together. Furthermore, Miss Morris and her female guests will have to cover up to be in line...