Free Republic

The grounds of appeal upon which George Pell's legal team are hoping to secure the fallen cardinal's freedom will be opposed by prosecutors in the High Court. Victoria's Office of Public Prosecutions on Tuesday confirmed they had filed a summary of their argument in response to a special leave application from Pell, lodged in September. Pell's lawyers are staking their case on the basis that two of the three Victorian Court of Appeal judges who upheld the cardinal's convictions over historical child sex abuse offences erred in their decision. In a 12-page application to the High Court, lawyers say the...

This Monday, the first-ever UN summit on refugees and migrants is set to agree on an international response to the largest displacement crisis since World War II. Some 65 million people are on the move worldwide, fleeing wars such as the carnage in Syria, as well as repression and poverty. In total, 21 million refugees are competing for too few resettlement opportunities. At the summit, the UN's 193 member countries are expected to adopt a political declaration that human rights groups have already said falls far short of breaking new ground to ease the refugee crisis. The following day, Obama...

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday said that he would be willing to resume negotiations with Israel, but conditioned it on Israel submitting “an encouraging and helpful proposal that can be built upon.” The Hebrew-language Ma’ariv newspaper reported that Abbas made the comments at a press conference with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, after the two met in Ramallah. During the press conference Abbas stressed that as far as he is concerned, the solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict is “establishing a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders [1949 armistice lines –ed.] and ending Israeli presence in occupied lands, including...

(notice how "lameduck" is in the url) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ridiculed as the "do-nothing" 109th U.S. Congress, the Senate and U.S. House of Representatives on Monday begin a brief session to wrap up whatever work they can, install a new defense secretary and approve money to prevent a shutdown of government services. The Republican-led Congress will meet only for about another week before drawing to a close -- as lawmakers prepare for the new 110th Congress set to convene on January 4 under Democratic control. Having been blown out in the November 7 elections, Republican lawmakers are getting ready to...

JERUSALEM - Now that Israel has redrawn its borders before the world's eyes, completing with dazzling speed its pullout from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank, it has this message for the Palestinians: We've dealt with our extremists, now you deal with yours. The Palestinians are telling Israel: You've proven that withdrawing is feasible, so keep going. Both Israeli and Palestinian officials said the evacuation opens a rare opportunity for renewing talks. But militant violence, chaos in Gaza, Israeli politics and big differences on issues of statehood and borders bode poorly for peace. On Tuesday, optimism outweighed...

New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has long been rumored as desperately seeking the democratic nomination for president in 2008. And while many political observers fully expect the power hungry former First Lady to hit the campaign trail within only a few months of being re-elected as a US Senator in 2006, US News & World report claims to have a confirmation of sorts. From USNews.Com's Washington Whispers: Hillary's in… You don't have to take it from us about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 's desire to run for president. Her brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham, say it's true. Friends...